Mobile Angel Reiya
by Meister Babylon
Summary: Over 2000 of the world's best Deii, 60 countries, 36 Judges, 1 Angelic Fight in Tokyo. In this radical tournament bouyed by hope and besieged by darkness, how would Misaki and her friends, new, old, and VERY old, fare? [Anime Pairings]
1. Prologue: Founding of the Layer

**Prologue: Founding of the Layer**

8 year old Eugenie padded the aisles of Tomoeda Medical Center's Level 4 Ward B softly, eyes darting from door to door in search of the one that held resident consultant and her father Dr Thomas Kluize. The man had sent for her, saying that he had something to show her.

"Quite the nerve!" Eugenie thought in indignation. "First you missed my birthday party when you promised to come, now you drag me all the way out here just to show me something?"

The girl was trying to get herself worked up to give the good doctor the cold shoulder that she had kept up ever since that party a fortnight ago. However, many good things happened in school and she was in a particularly good mood, plus the secretive short message mailed to her cellphone had genuinely aroused her curiosity. But she was determined to keep up the act and refocused herself on the search.

She did not know the meaning of the words but she could manage, by dictation, the spelling of "Magnetic Resonance Imaging"; the room which the kind lady at the counter said the girl could find her father. The receptionist had also mentioned that the door leading to the studio would also bear a squarish sign board with the silouettes of a knife and a screwdriver that declared "No metal beyond this point". The young Kluize side-stepped a trolley being rolled out of a Class A ward and weaved through a pair of chatting attendents before arriving at the said door. Eugenie took a deep breath, put on her fiercest pout, and rapped on the door until she got a reply.

"Dr Kluize is busy for crying out loud!" said as a nurse as swung the door ajar in agitation, expecting to see another intern looking for his/her mentor. Upon finding none, she looked down. Eugenie waved back at her rather indignantly, a little vericose vein popping out from the side of her head.

"Oh sorry! Haha..." The lady in white turned back. "Dr. Kluize? Your daughter's here."

Eugenie heard a barely audible "Okay I'll get it" and saw the nurse disappear back into the studio. The little girl glimpsed through the space to see on the monitor placed at the back of the room a boy being moved about on a large machine. He was lay motionless and awake, but there was something about his blank upward stare into oblivion made her heart go out to him. Then her father's square frame blocked all view once he filled the space vacated by his assistant. As expected, his obisidian black hair was in as much a mess as his crumpled lab coat and baby-blue shirt and his eyes were as blood-shot as ever. He squatted down to the girl's eye level and greeted cheerfully, "Hi honey. How's school today?"

Eugenie was not eager to engage in pointless small talk and, placing her hands on her waist, said in a rather angry tone, "This better be good. It's a long detour from school you know, Dad."

Tom laughed a little. His little angel was turning out to be just like her mom. Which also meant that he knew exactly how to defuse the situation. "You got me there Miss. Here you go."

The doctor handed over the egg-shaped container that he had been holding behind his back, noted Eugenie lighting up briefly before the girl remembered that she should be sulking. She eagerly flipped the egg around a few times, her finger tracing the embossed lettering that proclaimed it was an "Angel Egg". Her jaw hung open unconciously as her birthday wish miraculously came true. And the father couldn't help but flash a victory grin, which Tom quickly made scarce when Eugenie looked up.

"You... knew?" The girl tried to maintain her tone but, to her dismay and his triumph, failed miserably.

"Anna told me that you were rattling on and on about the game-play and specs of Angelic Layer and what your angel would be like." _On top of quite a tongue-lashing for never being around to notice_, the man thought as he sweat-dropped inwardly.

Eugenie took another deep breath and tried again, sounding happier instead. "How did you get it?"

"That's a secret. They're going to do an official launch tomorrow and I want you to have the first one," winked the smiling man. "Happy birthday, honey."

Eugenie bit her lip as she examined the amnion-suspended doll, letting the words sink in a little more as she found herself feeling sadder for once. An autographed poster of the girl's favorite mecha pilot had come in his stead back then. On a normal day it would have been greeted with cheer but that evening it did nothing to make her feel any less disappointed; for she hardly ever saw the man around the house, sometimes for whole weeks at a time as he'd leave before she got up and only returned long after her mother had put her to bed. But she also understood her father's work, and that his patients needed him more than she did, so, reluctantly, she gave Kluize a one-armed hug, the other clutching her unborn angel tightly.

"Thanks Dad..."

Dr Kluize nodded silently and spoke once they broke apart. "Tell you what. Since you came on time today and I've got no appointments for tomorrow, I'll push back any new orders and take you to the Piffle Princess opening launch party. How about that?"

All of Eugenie's heavy mood suddenly vaporized. "Really?"

Thomas smiled in reply. "It's the least I can do for missing your birthday, sugar."

The little girl stuck out her pinkie. "Promise?"

The doctor curled his narled finger around Eugenie's and shook it. "Promise."

"Cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye."

Dr Kluize got up and watched his daughter skip down the corridor for a while more. He went back into the scanning room only after she had disappeared into the main lobby.

"How's the scanning coming along?"

The nurse named Shizumi who had been assisting him replied without looking up from her terminal. "We've almost got everything now. A few minutes more and Ichiro-san should have what he called for."

The doctor nodded in reply and noted Shizumi shifting her gaze to the limp shadow of a boy lying on a thin mattress being passed back and forth through the doughnut-shaped MRI scanner in the next room. Both studios were separated by only some keyboards, a couple of screens on a long workstation and a glass wall. Kluize sighed inwardly. The calmness displayed by the boy at the moment hid the fact that he has full-blown multiple sclerosis (MS); just a couple of hours ago the doctor had just barely managed to stave off a massive seizure. Even then, the kid had already ceded control over speech, motor and bowel systems to the neural disease in an unprecedented rapid collapse that took every trick in the book to halt its progress. But the neurosurgeon gotta hand it to the kid; most MS sufferers at this stage of disease would have been in some form of clinical depression but everyday Thomas would come to work, greet his regular patient and get a fiery reply in the kid's red pupil gaze. The boy never gave up and the doctor could see that for as long as he had a breath of life in him the kid was not going down without a fight. And there was the other patient under his charge: One Suzuhara Shuuko who had come to the facility three years back. Her case was not too bad, just some intermittent loss of control over her legs. Her eagerness towards the whole procedure and the kid's amazing will to survive was just what the doctor needed to keep working at a cure.

He was not alone in his fight. He had a magnificent team: Hibiya Chitose who specialises in mechanical engineering, Mihara Ichiro with a masters in Bioengineering, architect Hououji Fuu who handled the robotics, his beautiful wife Anna and his own angels Edmond, Eugenie and baby Edouard who always stood by him, intern Masaharu Ogata and his magnificent coffee-making skills, just to name a few. With their research, they had intended to create a way for the brain to move and control limps and tissues that have their neural connections severed, be it disease or trauma. That was how the experimental droids dubbed "Angels" were born. But like the doctor always said, "When you think you've got everything covered, the brain will think of something else." There was always something to be learnt every day, and Thomas was confident each day would bring them closer to a cure. Until the hospital they used to work for decided to pull the plug citing budget and financial problems, that is.

Kluize closed his eyes and let his mind travel back to that night of agony. He tried his best to fight for the project but in the course of that he pit himself against another senior doctor also trying to get funds for his own research. It irked him that a rookie fresh out of his degree in neurosurgery had received more attention than he did and was backstabbing and seizing every chance to discredit Kluize's group. . Kluize pushed himself and everyone to the limit to race against time to find a breakthrough, but the Board of Directors ran out of patience first. The senior doctor had won the war. Thomas remembered how his blood boiled when the old geezer gloated as he left the boardroom and broke the news to his disheartened force. Dr Kluize resigned from the hospital that very night and the research team packed up their gear. As he made one last look at the hospital which saw the start of his career, Tom met Shuuko in the hallway. He knew not how to break the news. But the lady knew, and led him to the kid's room. There, to the doctor's amazement, he heard the boy breath, "Gam-bat-te..."

The doctor felt his blood rush once again. Nothing seem impossible to Tom when the kid gave his blessing. Kluize remembered how the energy came back to him as he practically sprang back to the research lab and vowed to everyone that he, by the pride of the Kluizes, was never going to give up. The coming days were a blur of activity. Even Shuuko chipped in as **_Kidou Tenshi Gotei _**or **Mobile Angel Team**, as the band of fighters had come to christen themselves, made frantic calls to every and any medical facility in the region as well as banks for credit to run their research. In the end, in one of the many gatherings of friends, family and alumni Fuu organized, Chiharu, Ichiro's cousin, came up with the brightest idea: To market the prototype Angels themselves as a new kind of toy. It was radical and Kluize felt that it would not take off as the market was already saturated. But it was the entire team against his one opinion so he let them go ahead. He even went so far as to get his wife's approval to use a portion of their own savings as part of the capital needed to set up the company. Most of his team became involved with the running of the new firm. Kluize, however, was no businessman and opted to remain behind to run the treatment center.

Mobile Angel Team had a lot of beginner's luck. Thomas moved their research and treatment headquaters to Tomoeda Medical Center with the help and recommendations of an anonymous good samaritan he only knew as Mr Reed. As for the new firm, it started as a small cottage production operating out of Chitose's basement, but the Angels sold out on the first day and the rest as they say was history. Now with a full factory running and their first outlet about to open, Kluize could only be proud of his team and how far they have gone. As for that old doc and the dingy old hospital, he last heard that the geezer had been convicted for malpractice and the whole joint had long imploded from debt.

"Will he ever be okay?" Shizumi spoke up after a while interrupting the surgeon's thoughts.

Kluize nodded firmly, his resolve renewed by his memories. "All of us are still working on it. But I give you my word, I'll have him up and about in no time. Shuuko-san as well. Meanwhile..."

Thomas "Captain" Kluize turned to face the CRT monitor to his left and watched its unending dance of rapidly-transitioned MRI scans. "...Let's see where this data would lead us..."

Little did he know that Mobile Angel Team, officially known as **_Kidou Tenshi Engeriku Reiya (Angelic Layer) Incorporated_**,was to create history and set the trend for years to come, in more ways than one...

------

**Author's Note**

It's everyone's favourite Cleric! How! Haha...

This fic has been in planning for a while but it took a backseat given all the research time that I dumped into my _Enchanted Runes _series for CCS. But I decided to take a break when things started to log jam a little. I then got onto Angelic Layer as there was evidence for it to be the next part of the great CLAMP universe I'm hoping to build.

It all started with a question to why Mihara Ichiro was dealing with multiple sclerosis when he seemed to only have an engineering degree? With that in mind I started a thought experiment and soon the other unsung pioneer members of KTAL fell into place. As you can see from the make up you can expect CLAMP-style crossing in the coming chapters! I'm using the pairings and most events that occur in the anime mostly, but where i see fit I'll try to fit in things that are unique to the manga.

The title seems kinda strange, but I assure you the first chapter will give a sufficient explanation. In the meantime, guess! Please read and review this and the coming chapters. Also, the post for beta is also open so if you want to help out, please do! The next chapter will begin 8 years after the above mentioned events, and 4 years after the end of the series, when Team Misaki would be 16 and Hatoko would be 10. Just the right ages for some fun:) See you next Fight!

Angels, FALL IN!


	2. OP1 Futatsu no Mirai

**Futatsu no Mirai**

_Our Twin Futures  
1st Opening Theme_

_Lyrics: Nao  
Arrangement: Igarashi "IGAO" Jun'ichi  
Vocal: Kuroda Michihiro  
Originally from: Rockman.exe Axess_

OPENING INSTRUMENTAL

Opens with a rapidly panning view of the Tokyo skyline that fades to a panoramic shot of the Angelic Layer inside Central Dome. Cut to Misaki leaping sideways into the Egg Seat and slapping on her red Albatross DS Visor. As the guitar solo loops again, cut to a frontal shot of Hikaru leaping into the air charging up her _Light of Souls / __Seirei no Hikari_ attack and sending it crashing into the screen, causing a whiteout that changes to a zoomed out scene of the Layer packed with cheering spectators. The title screen fades in.

**------Mobile Angel Reiya------**

_**Hajimari o Tsugeru Kane no Koe  
**At the beginning, the bell echos to let you know_

First is a shot of Yami the Angel and her patron _mashin _Esmeralde. It quickly cuts to the Angels of the X-CLAMP: Michael, Gabrielle, Raphael and Noel. The last Angel slices the screen into a whiteout.

_**Toki ga Kawari  
**That it's just a matter of change  
**Kinou Uchikeshi Narihibiku yo  
**From a terrible yesterday_

Misaki, mouthing her famous cheer, raises Hikaru over her head and swings back, releasing her as the champ spins forward. The Angel impacts and ripples the Layer barrier, powers up and spreading her wings, swoops down towards a Layer crowded with strange, shadowed out Angels.

_**Daijoubu Kimi ga koko ni ireba  
**It's all right, since you're here next to me_

Ohjiro is standing next to a rail watching Misaki's battle. Wizard is perched on his shoulder. Cut to Tamayo cheering wildly at another part of the stadium. Kotaro is beside her, less wild but cheering just as much.

_**Hitori janai Sore ga Yuuki Okosaseru  
**I'm not alone, and that's what'll awaken my courage_

Thomas and Anna look at each other, then the good doctor gives the thumbs up. Cut to Ichiro looking in the distance, then as he turns to face the camera and flashes a shit-eating grin he is joined by Shuuko, Chitose, the Inada siblings and Hiromi, getting more and more squished as more people show up.

_**Fukigenna Sora Mabushii hodo  
**This sullen sky dazzles so_

Umi twirls the Tac-Arms and tucks the hilt under her armpit as the blade shifts into Gatling mode. and, joined by Ares and Satellite, rains bullets and beamfire and cutting the screen to Fuu. The Angel is flying so fast that the background is a blur as she strafes sideways and unleashes a torrent of _Magic Archer / Sagitta Magica_ bolts from her summoned Wing Bow.

_**Terashi Daseru Taiyou ni nareru  
**It's so bright that I feel as if it's the sun_

Hitsugaya Alberu in his wheelchair, holding his Angel Franz in his hands, looks back as Ohjiro leaps over a barrier and shouts an order. Wizard cruises over his shoulder into the sky, firing up a massive Quantum Barrier and intercepting an equally massive _Seirei no Requiem _/_ Requiem of Souls_. The discharge from impact lights him up like a star.

CHORUS

_**Kimi to Wakachiau Kibou to Yorokobi  
**I'll share this with you, the joy of my hopes_

The classic Angel parade. Start of with Mao showing a few moves; Suzuka displaying her flurry of kicks; Shirahime posing haughtily; Blanche drawing her arms back; Ranga dancing the _Shi no Odori_; ends with Wizard parrying an attack from Sou and breaking away. After zooming out both Angels leap at each other once more.

_**Kurosu suru Sono Tabifukamaru Kizuna  
**This cross holds the deepness of our bond_

The Layer barrier gives, and Misaki's eyes go blank behind her visors which then quickly fades to Hikaru wearing the same expression. The scene changes to Yami, with her Deus in translucent superimposure over herself, leaping back, up and away, then cut to Hikaru, with Misaki superimposed and doing the same actions, swinging the giant _Sword of Souls / Seirei no Ken_ up and over her shoulder as she jumps after the dark Angel._  
_

_**Mirai to Genzai Pazuru o Awasete  
**The future and the present join together with this puzzle_

Opens with Guts-style Hikaru firing her Guts-_mashin_-gun, to be wiped over by Shield-style Hikaru dashing with her Arch Shield raised, leaving Brother-style Hikaru _(Which is just a renaming of Hikaru's base form)_ to take over. She spreads her wings and soar skywards just as Shadow-style Hikaru fade into the newly vacanted space and lash out with her _Raitoseva / Lightsaber_, whiting out the screen. When it fades back, it is now Custom-style Hikaru, her short cape flapping in the shockwaves of her attack. She charges up her _Light of Souls _in her palms and throws it. The attack leave a long trail of residual energies as it shoots skywards, forming a tall column of light.

_**Kokoro Tsunagaru Bokura no Yume  
**Our hearts are connected for our dream  
_**Akashi ni naru  
**_I'll become the proof_

The Magic Knights watch the racing column from the central plaza of Eriol Academy just as their Angels dart out of the part of the sky they were facing. They catch their Angels with their shoulders. The girls exchange smiles of victory with their Angels, then with each other. Eugenie shows a thumbs up; Nanoka, both hands clasped in front of her, nod at Misaki, flashing a brilliant smile. Just as the champ turns to face the front, Fuuko Meguri runs in and glomps a hapless Misaki while Hikaru barely manages to lift off in time.

CLOSING INSTRUMENTAL

Cut to the Screw symbol found on Hikaru's chest. It becomes the backdrop when Misaki drops in from the top like an Angel landing onto the Layer, followed by Hikaru who is at the moment the same size as her Deus. Both girls pose back to back in battle ready stance for the closing shot.

**Author's Note**

This is the first special character opening, and who better to start it off with than with Misaki! Ever found that screw symbol on Hikaru a little too familiar? Considering that she made that costume herself, AND her frequent contact with boys back in Wakayama Elementary, its not too out of the box to think that Misaki could be a Rockman.exe game player, or at least seen the game up close. And therefore the choice of song.

A piece of the opening is devoted to her Styles --Overdrive armor changes that mirror to a certain extent those of Rockman in the earlier games. There's a little teaser for the phenomenon of _Hyperalignment _which the Champion refers to as "Full-Synchro". :) It's similar but not exactly, for in HPA Deus-to-Angel (D-A) synchronisation rates can go as high as 400 percent --which is to say that the Angel is _predicting _what the Deus is going to do 4 steps ahead of the Deus-- and does not require a successful counter to trigger it.

Don't bother reviewing cos I don't think you can, especially if you have reviewed this chapter before. You can do it on the Round I'll be uploading soon. Hope you all like it. See you next Round!


	3. ED1 Yasashii Gogo

_Mobile Angel Reiya _1st Ending Theme

**Yasashii Gogo  
**_A Graceful Evening_

By **Minawo**  
Originally from _D.N.Angel_

_**Sasayaka na jikan mo wazukana mune no itami mo**  
even peaceful time and the sorrows of a small heart_

Hikaru is in the foreground by a laundry basket full of white linen. She has on her usual headdress complete with Angel cords, but she's wearing a pink apron over a white flowing dress and clutching her red battle costume in her arms. She's looking over her shoulder and smiling at Wizard in the background, who's hanging out his blue costume on a laundry line that already has some white sheets on it. The male Angel is dressed like Hikaru, having only his visors on while wearing a loose white T-shirt over blue jeans.

_**KIRAKIRA to kagayai te totemo itoshiku omoeta**  
appeared to be shining very beautifully_

Fades to Umi, who is wearing blue denim overalls over her inner swimsuit-like garment. The Angel's long hair is tied into a ponytail by a red ribbon. Her V-fin crown as well as the rest of her mechanical armor is displayed in an orderly fashion on the shelf behind her. Power tools of all sorts hang from the wall above the display. And Umi herself is busy with a wrench and screwdriver; she's working on the Tactical Arms's gatling and the weapon's armor panels have been removed to expose the cannon.

_**Kimi wa damatte iru kaze ni yurare te iru**  
the wind blows against the silent you_

Fades to Fuu. She is wearing a blue and white maid's uniform and the sleeve of her green battle costume can be seen being fed through a sewing machine the Angel is operating. Her Hermes headgear hangs from a hook on the hatstand by the window she is working under.

_**Sore ga tada ureshiku te sukoshi uta o utatta**  
that's just so pleasant I sing a little song_

Fades to Suzuka. She is seated in seiza position on a tatami mat enjoying some freshly brewed tea while gazing at the zen garden beyond the Japanese sliding door. Her black battle costume hangs from the wall behind her and is flanked by Japanese couplets; Suzuka herself is wearing a light purple yukata with a hibiscus pattern with a sash of a deeper shade around her waist.

_**Mitsume rare ta ra hontou wa iki mo deki nai  
Nee... Warawa nai de...**  
__when you stare at me, I can't really breathe  
hey... please don't laugh..._

Fades to a group photo of all four female Angels lying on some hillside grass in their above-stated dresses watching the clouds lit by a setting sun float by. Hikaru is pointing enthusiatically to somewhere in the sky; Umi's folding her arms behind her head for a pillow; Fuu is playing with a dandelion in her hand while she was looking up; Suzuka's just watching on contentedly.

_**Sasayaka na jikan wa shizuka ni nagare yuku  
Kizuka nakatta keredo haru wa soko ni ki te ita**  
__peaceful time passes away silently  
I didn't notice it but spring has come_

Fade to another group photo, this time with Wizard in it. The Angels are leaning on a Victorian-design balcony, back facing the camera and still in the human clothes as of above. All of them are watching the dying rays of the passing day. From left to right: Wizard with Hikaru leaning onto his side, Suzuka, Umi, Fuu.

_**Haru wa soko ni ki te ita  
**__I didn't notice it but spring has come_

And one of Hikaru's feathers float into view and signs on the top left corner of the screen the words in cursive:

**Mobile Angel Reiya**

_**Haru wa soko ni ki te ita...**  
I didn't notice it but spring has come..._

**Author's Note**

I choose this song for its very dreamy rhythm to convey a floaty feeling which would ascentuate the "angelic-ness". :P The idea for the Angels acting like humans came as I was considering the implications of the Rei-Yamato Effect. Rather cute I hope. I'm working on the next Round so stay tuned!

Angels, FALL IN!


	4. Round 01 The Magic Knights of 4C

8 years later, on a cold winter morning...

Suzuhara Misaki found herself hurrying through Tokyo Station just like she did four years ago, eyes and head darting around in search for platform D6. But this time she was not going anywhere; it was Kotaro and Tamayo instead.

The girl slowed to a stroll, feeling her heart sink somewhat. Kobayashi Kotaro and Kizaki Tamayo... Her best friends and most faithful companions ever since she uprooted from rural Wakayama to come to the bustling city in search of her mother. She had made many friends in her years spent at Eriol Academy as well as her sparrings on the Layer, but the couple had always had a special place in her heart. But Tamayo's father had found work in another neighbouring town and since it was far from Tokyo's city center, the family had to move since they could not afford a car. Tamayo thus applied for a school in that neighbourhood and with her grades got in fairly easily. Kotaro, once he learned of what had transpired, did the same and qualified. The Kobayashi elders maintained an ancestral home there so it was easy for him to get permission to follow his love. But that meant leaving Misaki and Hatoko behind...

Misaki closed her eyes as she remembered the snowy night when Kotaro and Tamayo, with Hatoko in tow, suddenly showed up at her doorstep. Many tears were shed as they broke the news. But Misaki knew that they had to go so she wished them well and hoped to see them soon. She was certain that they had done enough crying over the decision.

"Misaki-chan!" "Misakichi!" "Suzuhara-san!"

The three different addresses snapped Misaki out of her daydream. They led her a laiden group of three waving at her from another platform. Misaki pulled her yellow anorak closer and hurried over, leaving a trail of mist in her wake.

"Sorry minna!" Misaki panted when she arrived. "I got lost again..."

"It's okay Misakichi..." Tamayo croaked towards the last syllable. "You made it. That's what really counts..."

The champ returned the hug and nodded silently, afraid to talk lest her roiling emotions burst out again. Kotaro kept mum as he looked on sadly. Hatoko looked away, hiding her eyes under her black fringe. Tamayo gave Misaki a light pat on the back and unwrapped herself from the champ as she stood up.

"Look out for Hatoko for me alright?" Kotaro said to the brown haired Deus as Tamayo brushed aside her tears and went back to his side.

"Oi Kotaro!" retorted the dimunitive _Inazuma Jounin_ _(1) _at his side. "I'm not some helpless little girl you know. Worry more about yourself." And she then turned to Tamayo. "Please keep him out of trouble for me alright?"

The older Kobayashi was ready to protest, but Tamayo already had her arm around his neck and half yanked, half throttled the boy to her head level. She flashed her trademark thumbs up. "You don't worry about Kotaro-chan when I'm around!"

There was a chime, then the public announcement system blared out that the train for Tomoeda was departing in a minute's time.

"We've got to go now," Kotaro added glumly, only to be conked on the head by the avid martial arts practitioner. "Itai..."

"Come on! Don't sound so sad! It's not like we're never going to see each other again..." Tamayo tried laughing away the little beads still forming uncontrollably in her eyes. "Right, Misakichi?"

"Look who's talking," groaned Kotaro as he massaged the bump on his head.

"Mm!" Misaki shook aside her sad feelings and nodded in agreement as Kotaro and Tamayo stepped off the platform and onto the waiting carriage, bags and all. "Keep in touch!"

"Remember to use the chat messenger!" The girl yelled back just as the automatic doors swished shut. Then came the traditional blast of the horn, and the Kansai Express began its slow chug out of the station. Misaki and Hatoko stayed where they were, waving the couple off until the locomotive turned out to the right and went out of sight.

It would be a while before Hatoko turned to Misaki and said, "Let's go."

------

**Round #01 The Magic Knights of 4-C**

1 month later...

"Class 4-C" said a sign above the sliding door Misaki was facing. The minor cacophony inside came across rather dulled and muffled.

Misaki glanced up for the umpteenth time to assure herself that she was not lost. After all, it was the first time that she had gone to a new class alone and without the boisterous rachings of Tamayo beating Kotaro to a pulp to distract her from her nervousness. She wondered how would the class be like. Would they swamp her like her fans often do whenever she's spotted at the Piffle Princess? Were there those nasty characters that challenge her to a fight outright? Misaki sweat dropped then chided herself for being so immature. So with a quick "How bad could it be?" Misaki slid open the class door and stepped through before second thoughts could get her.

And instantly, the warm atmosphere enveloped her. Friends were gathered in groups, chatting loudly and giggling away. Some choose to read novels quietly on their own, and a group of guys had bunched at the second last row of tables behind a laptop immersed in a recently released game. Surprisingly, no one bothered about her. Misaki smiled, the feeling of loneliness and silly anxiety slowly fading into the background. _Not bad at all..._

Misaki continued to survey the room, looking for a spot to sit while taking in the sounds. The light mood was half attributed to remnants of New Year's revelry, the other half due to the fact that everyone had survived a major promotion exam last winter and the next major exam would be due until three years later. The National champion was very pleased with herself that day, having performed exceptionally well for Math for the first time in her life. Her other subjects held on, and so here she was dressed in the forest-green-hemmed uniform of Eriol Academy's High School level. For everyone who made it, it was reason to celebrate.

It was at that thought of Misaki's when a girl seated at the back of the class caught her attention. First of all, she had an outstanding mane of glistening gold nicely cut and trimmed into a bob that sat on her green collar with the ends of her locks curling outwards; the champ had never seen such a shade for hair before. Secondly, Misaki recognized and almost balked at the piece of technology the blonde student wore. It was a blue-and-white resin-encased unit that had scaled cooling plates swept backwards from the ear grips like wings on a valkyrie's helmet --two-way collapsible wireless Albatross (TM) DS visors by the Razorman company, a machine with a price tag almost as long as its name. And thirdly, she seemed to be playing a piano made out of air as the girl's hands danced over an invisible keyboard, sometimes with fingers rattling away like a touch typist, sometimes poking and proding, and sometimes sweeping from side to side. Misaki was awestruck and intrigued, and subconciously moved closer until she was practically in front of the girl. Even then the champ got no response from her. The brown haired girl leaned forward to peer into the seemingly-opague tinted lense panelling.

It was then that the blonde girl stopped, looked up at Misaki and with a loud "Oh!" pulled the DS visor off. "Hi! What's the matter?"

"Na... Um... What were you doing?" Misaki replied along with a puzzled look.

The gray-green eyed girl smiled as she folded up her optical gadget. "I was just making adjustments to the plugins and parameters I just installed in my Angel."

"Really? But I don't see your Angel anywhere..."

"Oh I do! It's right--" The girl cut herself when she looked closer at Misaki and clapped both hands to her mouth. It was her turn to be amazed. "Oh. My. God."

"What is it?" The girl said as she turned around, thinking that the golden haired girl had seen something behind her.

The girl sprang from her seat and made a beeline for Misaki, wrapping her arms around the surprised Deus and squeezing the daylights out of her. "Its you! It really is you!"

The champ could only manage a sweatdrop and "Na...?"

"This day has finally arrived! I'm so so _so _happy!" The still-nameless girl squealed before remembering something and hastily backed off the ruffled champ. She shot out a hand. "Oh I clean forgot to introduce myself. I'm Claire-Marie-Eugenie de Kluize. But just Eugenie would do."

"Haha..." Misaki giggled sheepishly as she shook it. "I'm Suzu-

"-hara Misaki, 16, 2 time KTAL National Champyon, with a Y for an I since most Japanese advertisers can't spell." The young Kluize rolled her eyes as she finished for Misaki. "I did say I know you right?"

"Na..." A bead of sweat appeared by Misaki's forehead. _Oh no another fan..._

"Right this way!" Eugenie broke the girl's daze by dragging Misaki by the cuff to her own seat. "Come on! You've got to meet her!"

The girls stopped at Eugenie's left hand neighbour who was so engrossed in the novel at hand that she did not seem to notice that her dark purple fringe had fallen across her cheeks, obscuring her eyes from view, much less take note of all the commotion around her. Eugenie clapped her hands on Misaki's shoulder as she declared, "Suzuhara Misaki, this is a very good friend of mine, Moriyama Nanoka!"

"Huh? Eugenie?" The reader heard her name being called and tilted her head to the side. A bit of the violet curtain parted and some blue shone through.

"I said, this is Suzuhara Misaki, Nanoka!" Eugenie replied with force.

"Ah!" The girl's eyes went wide as she yelped suddenly and hastily returned to her book while muttering a meek "Erm... Hi..."

A surprised Misaki tilted her head a little to the side. "Na?"

"Oh she's like this when she's new to someone. Given some time she'll warm up to ya." Eugenie whispered into Misaki's ear. "She got quite a bad case of shyness with an inferiority complex."

"Na..." Misaki nodded slowly.

Eugenie went over and clapped both hands on Nanoka's shoulders. "As you can tell she's a Deus too."

"But I'm a very bad Deus. I always lose..."

"Oh don't say that! It just takes time to get used to a new strategy that's all!" Eugenie griped.

"Don't worry, Nanoka-chan," Misaki said. "As long as you're not so hard on yourself you'll be fine."

The purple haired girl just nodded in reply.

"And with all the introductions out of the way, the Magic Knights are assembled!" Eugenie proclaimed while doing a little twirl.

"Na?" Misaki blinked.

"I mean what I said, my dear Misaki." Eugenie intoned matter-of-factly as she felt under her table for something. "Nanoka, could you take your Angel out as well?"

"Ah...!" The purple haired girl hesitantly placed her book back on the table.

"Oh come on! I've been waiting so long for this day!" Her hand found what she was looking for and Eugenie pulled out a foot tall cylinder, holding it up for all to see. Nanoka then dug something similar out of her pack and set it gingerly on the table; her book had disappeared now.

"**Hikaru**, meet **Umi** and **Fuu**," beamed Eugenie.

"NA! Really?"

**---\\\****Mobile Angel Reiya Eyecatch/---**  
Misaki & Hikaru

"NA! Really?"

Misaki lit up at the mention of the other 2 Magic Knights. She peered through the transparent plastic that made up the most of the cylinder except the deep blue shutter cap and the similarly-toned base which served as a docking bay for the Angel inside. The doll within stood erect and asleep, and from its long blue mane, stylized head brace that held the hair in place and sharp haughty features Misaki could tell how much that Magic Knight had inspired the Angel's name and construction. But that was where the similarities ended. Like her own Hikaru, Umi was dressed nothing like the original character; instead, the Angel had gray mechanical feet armor that went up to and ended at her knees. Some of its panelling was painted in the Magic Knight's famous shade. Her thighs were exposed. Then came the chest-hugging mantle she wore over a swimsuit-cut inner garment complemented by generously-sized shoulder plates. Umi's upper arms were unarmored, only the lower arms, which were fitted into elbow-length blue-hemmed gauntlets. Most notable was the enormous weapon that was clipped to the shoulder hard points found on the mantle and rested flat onto Umi's back. It was shaped like a Y where the tail was folded over at a forty-five degree angle towards the V-portion, and a 4-barreled automatic cannon stuck out from between the V.

Misaki saw that there were many holes cut strategically into the Angel's armor. Other similar attachments could be seen peeking out from under the shoulder plates and the skirt armor as well. _Verniers,_ Misaki thought as she recalled one of the recent rule changes. It's been a while since Angelic Layer first appeared, and more and more people have discovered the ability to manupilate the Layer to produce certain desired effects, which included conjuring up wings just like Hikari and Athena do just before they fire off their Angelic Blast attack. That meant that most Angels were able to fly, and to level the playing field for newbies, the ABC mandated that all Angels must have some sort of flight system. Lighter Angels can use flaps of laminar surfaces as a gliding mechanism while others depended on wing-like appendages, be it summoned or built in. And when a famous toy mecha company did a tie-in with KTAL, even heavier armored Angels learnt to touch the sky using the thruster-based flight system that had been patented by the partner company --the "verniers". It was this playing field levelling that also allowed the use of firearms and other ranged energy-based weaponry to counter the significant rise in number of veterans being able to throw projectiles at their foes, which would explain the existence of the once illegal gatling gun on Umi's back.

Eugenie noted how Misaki seemed entralled by the massive device and decided to give a commentary. "I built that from scratch! Ain't it beautiful?"

The girl took the capsule from Misaki and gave the cap a twist. The interlocking plates slid open like those of a camera shutter, hence its name, and Eugenie reached in to extract Umi. She set the angel in a sitting pose on the edge of her desk and twiggled the Angel's attached weapon a little. It came off with a click. Eugenie then held it up by the tail of the folded Y structure.

"Watch closely," she said, sounding like a magician eager to show off her tricks. Proceeding slowly and elaborately, Eugenie first pulled out the insides of the V such that both sides changed from rectangles to two right-angled triangles with their longest sides facing outwards. She then closed the V onto the barrel of the cannon, locking it within the space left behind by the triangles and forming a larger and taller triangle. The golden haired girl could then straighten out the I tail of the weapon, which she followed up by folding down the two top-mounted vernier outjets to the left and right of the I tail, and slid a displaced armor panel into position, locking the bottom half of the weapon to shape. It was at this point in time that Misaki realized the thruster equiped gatling had morphed into a giant sword, with Eugenie holding onto the hilt all along!

It was important to note that there were still some rules regarding melee weapons: while the laws were relaxed to allow such hand-to-hand devices, they must be configured such that they cannot do piercing or slashing damage to avoid permanent damage to other Angels. And so in an interesting twist of evolution, all Angelic Layer swords had rounded, sometimes flat edges, and were often dubbed as "blockswords". Umi's cannon-blade was no exception.

"Na... Amazing..." Misaki breathed, her jaw almost hitting the floor. "But it's almost as big as herself. How does she handle such a huge sword?"

"Umi doesn't look much like it, but she emphasizes Strength and Attack, so hefting this **Tactical Arms** (2) isn't a problem," stated Eugenie as she returned the sword to its backpack mode. "Besides, the original Umi wielded a blade way bigger than herself, didn't she? Anyway with a couple of venier tricks she's as deft as most of the other Angels. But you really should see Fuu..."

The student of foreign descent turned to face Nanoka, who had long found the floor rather interesting. "Your turn for Show and Tell, Nanoka." She then added softly, "You promised to do this yourself!"

"Ano..." The shy girl hesitated before picking her Angel out of her azure green capsule and set her in Misaki's hands. "Ah... She's not much to look at... I did my best but I'm a bad designer..."

Eugenie huffed. "Nanoka! Remember, be positive! Positive!"

Misaki took a glance at Fuu and agreed with Eugenie that Nanoka really had underestimated herself. Fuu's chestnut-brown turf and emerald green eyes were an accurate reproduction of the original's, right down to her big round-framed glasses. As for her armor, it was rather elaborately detailed, multi-layered and made of resin fabric as opposed to the newly-released powered armor plating Umi had. She wore a golden winged headband that linked both sides with a strip of azure green on her brilliant hair. The wings were repeated as a massive accent across Fuu's chest like many a "xxxRanger" character and it arched over her shoulders from front to back and sloped upwards towards the edges. It seemed to Misaki that those wings were held in place by a light green hemisphere at chest level in their center-front as well as center-back, and which the latter also held onto the two long green cape flaps that started from under the back sphere and could be seen jutting out from Fuu's sides at a slim angle when viewed from the front. Those flaps grew wider the further down Fuu's back they went and ended in small half-rhombus around thigh level. Her deep green sleeves were puffy at the shoulders, a bit like Blanche's shoulders, but quickly became form fitting as they went down the Angel's arms and ended in half-finger cuttings. The upper body suit started with a turtleneck in the same shade as those of the sleeves and, as it went down and connected seamlessly with the shoulders, the solid green became a panel that ran all the way down the suit's center till where it ended at slightly above the half of Fuu's thighs in short leggings. The core panel was hemmed with yellow and flanked by white sidings. The Angel had deep green resin boots that went slightly above the knee; it too was hemmed at the opening in yellow and on both boots there were lighter green ovals which one end touched the opening and the other reached the knee. (3) Like Hikaru, Fuu did not seem to be carrying a weapon or having any mechanism of flight installed, which probably meant that she could summon them using Layer manupilation.

"She's really very well done, Nanoka-chan," Misaki smiled as she handed back Fuu. "I've never fought any Angel with that much detail in her costume! What's her type?"

Nanoka nodded unreadably. "Ah... I customized Fuu to be a Defence/Speed Angel since we're almost always on the defensive... Because of that she can hardly do any damage, but since I can't even land a punch on my opponents I guess this is the most economical use of stat points..."

"As usual you left out something important," Eugenie interjected, eyes twinkling. "You can cast most of Magic Knight Fuu's spells! ESPECIALLY the three Wind spells."

Misaki blinked. "That means you can..."

And Eugenie gushed on. "...Fuu can heal herself in a middle of a fight! Add another shielding spell on top of all that solid defence and agility, Fuu becomes practically impossible to take down physically!"

Misaki, given her wealth of experience, had fought a few healer-type Angels in the past Championships and knew exactly how to deal with such opponents: Throw them out of the Layer. But she did not want to say it lest she made Nanoka's inferiority complex worse.

"Ah..." came Nanoka's meek reply.

"Yosh!" the golden haired girl clapped her hands together. "That settles it! As of today, we're going to be registered as official Angel contestants for the first time!"

"Na..." Misaki blinked again. "The both of you seem like very good Deus, but I never expected you to never have been in the Championships before..."

"It's a long story that goes back four years." Eugenie said waving a finger in the air. "The gist was that we made a promise back then, after hearing that an Angel named Hikaru had burst upon the Layer, that if the Magic Knights of the Layer were ever assembled together, we'd all join the Championships whether we're ready or not. In fact..." Eugenie spun in a brief circle, the excitement in her voice still growing with every sentence. "This is the first time Nanoka and I were ever in the same class! And when that happened you ended up in 4-C as well! We're really meant to meet here on this very day."

"Really..." Both Misaki and Nanoka intoned with a little residual sweat drop.

"There is no such thing as coincidence, only _hitsuzen_," quipped Eugenie in a knowledgeable tone before switching back to her more cheery one. "Or at least that's what I've heard from somewhere. But after today's events you can say I'm even more a believer now..."

"Na..." Misaki had begun to speak when the door slipped open and the class immediately fell silent as the class' homeroom tutor, a visibly-aged woman, Mizuki-sensei stepped in. The champ scrambled to an empty seat to the right of Eugenie as the rest of the class settled into their original placings.

The year was off to a good start.

**---\\\****TO BE CONTINUED/---**

**Author's Note**

(1) Translated as _Lightning Master-rank Ninja_. Suzuka by now has become quite a vet of the Layer, and her deus Hatoko goes by another nickname since she's no longer a kindergartener. To demonstrate how close Angel and Deus are their nicknames are often applied interchangebly to each other. Hatoko's nickname will be revealed later.

(2) Reference to a famous mecha series _Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED_. The_ Tactical Arms_ is a weapon used by the mobile suit variant _Gundam Ashtray Second L_ and was the inspiration of Angel Umi's, though the proportions of blade and gun have been changed in order to fit onto and be carried by a small-shouldered female figure. From the design of Umi, as well as from the previous Round it can be seen that Eugenie is quite a mecha fan. No prizes for guessing _which _mecha toy maker did a tie-in with KTAL. ;D

(3) This _long_ paragraph is a desperate attempt to reference to _Cardcaptor Sakura_. I didn't think I did very well, so I hereby state that Fuu's armor is a green-colored version of Sakura's blue battle costume when she captured The Big and The Create, because only an ardent cosplayer and fan of CCS could discern it from my description when all my other friends were scratching their heads. :P

I never expected the introductory Round to be this long, so I decided to push the explanation of the meaning of the title to the next episode. But I can give a clue that Mobile Angel is the direct translation of _Kidou Tenshi_. I hope you've enjoyed this piece and do remember to leave comments and suggestions because all that would go into making _MAR _a better fic! See you next Round!


	5. Round 02 Operation Equipment, and other

**Round #02 Operation Equipment, and Other Piffle Business**

"Say Eugenie?" Misaki asked as they turned into Main Street and the pink signage of the Piffle Princess came into view. "Why did you choose Umi to be your Angel?"

"That's a long story sa," the golden haired girl replied as memories came back. "I grew up playing with my brother's and father's mecha models instead of dolls." She grinned. "I was quite the tomboy back then."

"Na..." Misaki said. "I had dolls back in my grandparents home in Wakayama, but in school the boys far outnumbered the girls so we often ended up playing their games... I suppose I had quite a boyish upbringing too."

"No it doesn't," Eugenie noted as she looked Misaki's way. "Misaki's a village girl? How rare!"

"Na..." Misaki giggled nervously.

"You've quite an interesting speech habit you know?" Eugenie beamed. "As I was saying, I always wanted to be a mecha pilot, gliding through space and blasting the bad guys out of the way while flying my 'partner' battle armor. In a way, I still do... Hehe..." Eugenie said turning a little pink at the childish memories playing in her mind. "It was just after I finished watching Dad's collection of Magic Knights when Angelic Layer started its pre-release advertisements. I got hooked from day one, and spent every second of my free time sketching Angel designs. I couldn't decide on one, and kept trashing them. Then it happened..." Eugenie suddenly looked back at Misaki. "This may sound silly but... Please don't laugh..."

"I won't. What happened?"

"Umi she... appeared to me in a dream. She was as tall and as beautiful as I had wanted to be... Back then she held out a hand to me and said that she was waiting for the day when we would meet in person..." Eugenie gushed dreamily with her eyes closed. "And now she's here. Quite a story no?"

"It's a beautiful one nonetheless," Misaki nodded.

"Ah, yes. That's why I love doing Angelic Layer... Each time I get to tear away from this reality and be with the person I admire a lot."

"I'm happy for you, Eugenie." Misaki said before turning to Nanoka. "How about Nanoka?"

"Ah... I find that I have a lot in common with Fuu..." The quiet girl replied in her usual cautious voice. "And when Angelic Layer came to Hokkaido she was the only design I had in mind."

"You're from Hokkaido?" Misaki squealed. "Which city are you from?"

"Somewhere very close to the southern caost. It's a really small village and I didn't get out much until I moved to Tokyo under my Father's request..." Nanoka continued. "Konoka. I don't think you would've heard of it."

Misaki wracked her brains for a map of 'Konoka' but turned up with none.

"You sure it's not Konoha?" The golden haired girl butt in with a sly smile.

"Eugenie..." the violet haired girl gave Eugenie a weird look.

"Wouldn't it be nice if you really were from there?" Misaki said happily. "I mean, I'd love to be able to meet Tsunade and maybe learn a trick or two!"

Now it was both Nanoka and Eugenie's turn to be surprised. "How did you know...? You don't seem like the kind..."

"I said before, back in Wakayama Elementary, boys far outnumber girls," the champion continued. "When we're not playing games the nicer ones would lend us their comic books."

Eugenie nodded slowly. "No wonder you're such a natural at the Layer..."

She then nudged Nanoka a little. "Anyway I would like to add on to what Nanoka said. You should really see her room. It's fully decorated with Mokona and clothes she made for Fuu. And the highlight is..." She waved a finger in the air while wearing the expression of a cat. "A full size poster of Ferio on inside of her door."

At that point the violet haired girl squealed and turned beet-red. But that did nothing to reduce the number of question marks Misaki had coming out of her head.

Eugenie winked. "Let's just say that she has a lot more in common with Fuu that she'd like you to know."

Awkward silence accompanied the group the last bit of the way to Piffle's door.

"Here we are! Let's get cracking!" Eugenie announced with outstretched arms, then noticed that Misaki had gone a little concious of herself and was eyeing the crowds inside the superstore nervously. "Is something wrong?"

"Na..." Misaki shook her head a little. "It's the peak period at the shop..."

"...And you'd get swamped by fans, which I don't think you're very comfortable with that." Eugenie completed the sentence for her.

"Um... Yes that..."

"Oh why didn't you say so!" cried Eugenie as she dug into her slingbag and pulled out her Albatross. "Put this on when we get near there and no one would recognize you!"

"Na!" Misaki flailed her hands in refusal. "It's so expensive! I can't risk touching it, especially when I'm so clumsy I might break it..."

Eugenie just pushed the folded head piece into the pair of small hands, stopping them dead. "You'll be ok. Besides, I heard that everyone has to bring their own DS visors for the new tournament so you really should get one."

"Na..." Misaki balanced the goggles gingerly in her hands as though it was some kind of sacred artefact before carefully sliding it into her book bag. "I guess I really should get a standard pair for myself..."

"Well, how many Angel points have you?"

"Um... I think maybe a couple ten thousand? It's been a long time since I found a suitable upgrade..."

"That's not enough..." Eugenie grimaced a little. "I thought I could get you a full technical overhaul of good stuff..."

That was when Nanoka tapped Eugenie on the shoulder. "Ano... There's a sign there..."

All three girls looked up at the glass facade of the Princess. The flashy words "National Tournament Sale! Up to 90 percent off!" stared back.

"Well, well! Sharp as ever my Nanoka!" Eugenie exclaimed while wrapping an arm around the hapless girl. She gave a whoop. "That settles it! I declare today's mission to be Operation Equip Misaki!"

"Na..." Misaki sweat-dropped.

------

The festivities at Piffle Princess were in full swing by the time the Magic Knights stepped through its automatic glass doors. Streamers, balloons and human-sized cut outs of famous veteran Angels adourned the many stalls and booths hawking the latest in Angelic Layer accessories and other supporting devices. Exploding signs of "Sale!" hung from practically every visible corner the eye could see. But the stalls set up by affliate companies formed a mere border of sorts to the main attraction: Piffle's cut up square of well-stacked boxes that carried anything from Angel eggs to expansion sets of Angel armors and upgrades to other peripherals produced by KTAL Inc. The central atrium took up the largest space and the packages were stacked up so high that when Misaki stood amongst them she would not have been able to even look over the top of them on tip-toe.

Not that she could see anything at the moment. Misaki had on the Albatross and was struggling to make out her surroundings through her heavily-tinted lens as the trio strolled along the somewhat packed aisles. In the end, she rounded a corner and bumped into the outstretched arm of a scaled-up model of Hikaru, falling backwards into Nanoka who caught her with the faintest of "Ah".

"Misaki?" Eugenie whispered.

"Na?" Misaki stammered as she squinted to figure out where to place her next step.

"Are you walking blind?"

"Eh... Yes, a little. It's okay I'll--"

Eugenie reached over and touched a dial on the Albatross earpiece. Misaki was startled by the powering-up whine of the headpiece, and the words "Razorman" flashed onto the screen which were then wiped over by an animation of a bird gliding past, leaving the letters "ALBATROSS" fizzling in one after another before it and the tint all cleared away, returning the champ's vision to normal.

"Na! Can they see through my mask now?"

"Nope it's still tinted blue to me," Eugenie replied. "What you're seeing is a composite image derived from the two external cameras mounted on the sides of the visor. Turn the dial once more and you'll start the synchronization with a Angel Capsule and enter the Soft Maintenence mode. Turn it again and it goes into Battle Synchronisation mode."

"Na..." Misaki nodded slowly. I must remember all this when I get my own visors.

"Now where's that registration table?" Eugenie wondered aloud as they continued to walk the commercial labyrinth. "I suck at navigation! The map said it was on the other side of the atrium..."

"Eugenie? It's there." Nanoka pointed left of the T-junction they had reached. Eugenie glanced in the direction indicated, lit up and darted away in a loud "Alright!", leaving Misaki and Nanoka to slowly catch up with her. The champ overheard a familiar voice greeting "Good afternoon, Deus. Are you here to register for the tournament? Please fill up this form." as she got closer to the booth that had a big banner proclaiming "Registration" draped over it. But due to Eugenie's height, which was a good head and a half over Misaki's, she could not see who was the one manning the counter. Nanoka had hurried after Eugenie and was the second to reach the table, accepting another form from the mystery person. She had sat down on a red stool provided when Misaki arrived and peered round Eugenie.

The effect was electrifyingly instantaneous. "NAAA!"

Eugenie almost dropped her pen while Nanoka cried out "Ah!" in unison. The boy in blue Outo High uniform seated behind the table was taken aback as well, but he quickly recovered. "Wow, Misaki-chan. You really scared me there."

The golden haired girl glanced from the mildly flustered Ohjiro to the very red Misaki, and her mouth took the shape of a silent Oh.

The champ was stammering hard when she replied, "Gome-ne... Ohjiro... kun..."

She saw a pen and a form headed "Angelic Layer International Tournament 2012" slide into the space in front of her. The voice continued, "Never mind that... Thanks for waking me up. It gets really boring doing something like this. Fill this up please."

"Hehe... I was just surprised... Really sorry..." Misaki removed her goggles and switched them off as she spoke and picked up the pen. Her name came out in horrendous squiggles because of the way she was stooping over as well as her hand was almost paralyzed in anxious spasms. A sweat drop formed by the side of her head as she struggled to calm herself.

"Erm... Why don't you sit down?" Ohjiro said, rather bemused.

Misaki plopped herself onto the other open stool, completing forgetting that there was no seat left for Eugenie, and busied herself with the form, trying to hear her own thoughts over the loud "doki-doki" of her heart. But Eugenie understood and quickly finished her form and handed it in. The girl then silently hurried Nanoka and, when she had completed the task as well, whisked her away, leaving Misaki alone with Ohjiro. But it became obvious that curiosity had a part to play in Eugenie's actions for she stopped at the first aisle they came to and spied on Misaki from there.

Misaki was reading the Indemity section when Ohjiro spoke again. "How's the first day at school Misaki-chan? I heard that Tamayo-chan and Kotaro-kun moved away last month."

"Ah yes, they did. I still miss them..." Misaki whispered before looking back down on the paper. "But its not too far away. They went to Tomoeda."

"That's good," Ohjiro smiled. "That means you could be meeting with them soon."

"Na?" Misaki quipped with a tilt of her head.

"Well it's something I've heard about how this year's tournament being radically different from before." The Prince replied. "The arenas are going to be in all the major wards in central Tokyo, from Akihabara to Shinjuku. Tomoeda's in the list as well."

Misaki relaxed visibly as the previous jitters slowly faded away. "That's great! I hope it really is true..."

Ohjiro nodded. "Me too. Are they your new classmates?"

"Oh yes," Misaki replied as she signed off and placed the pen down. "The tall one with gold hair is Eugenie Kluize. Her name's really long and that's all I can manage for now... Hehe... The one with violet hair is Moriyama Nanoka."

"Uh... Yes I know. I got that from their forms." The young Mihara held up the two pieces of paper.

"Na! Sorry!"

Ohjiro smiled. "It's okay. I was just wondering what are they like... But never mind that. Finish your form first."

A brief silence settled over the table as Misaki went over her form once more. She paused at the blank for her Deus serial number and, after some thought, dug out her Angel Card from her red checkered purse to compare the numbers. It was very long and even after using it for so many competitions she still made a few mistakes here and there. After fixing the differences, the girl handed the form back to Ohjiro.

"Okay that about covers it," Ohjiro said as he checked whether all the important spots were filled up. After that, he placed the forms into a box by his side and took out three pink books bearing the full crest of KTAL from under the desk.

"These are the rulebooks regarding this year's tournament. Please study them carefully. There's so many changes this year even I can't remember all of them yet."

"Okay..." Misaki said as she received the booklets. "I'll pass it to them."

"You do that. Good luck!"

"Thank you... Would you be participating this year?"

Ohjiro shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I signed up as a judge by request of Oni-chan. But I'm still in the dark about why are there so many judges this year..."

"Oh..." Misaki nodded sadly. "I was hoping to meet you on the Layer again..."

"And try to retake your crown from me?" Ohjiro grinned a little. After all, it was he who had narrowly defeated Misaki in an intense final match-up the year before. He won by a hair's breadth, and only by taking advantage of something in the Layer that he had only heard rumors of. Nonetheless, it was a great joy to him to be able to pit Wizard against Hikaru on the Layer any time and Ichiro's request had come as a rather big disappointment. The scientist did assure him that he could still get what he wanted, but it did not stop Ohjiro from wondering how.

Misaki shook her head. "Not really... I just like to be able to spar with strong opponents as well as my friends on the Layer."

The Prince smiled in return. "And that's what so beautiful about you..."

Misaki felt the color rushing back into her cheeks and she hastily looked away. "Na..."

Ohjiro found himself admiring Misaki rather dreamily. The both of them had grown over the years, and even more so for Misaki. Fortunately for the vertically-challenged girl she was a late boomer, and it was in the last year that she suddenly shot up a good 10 centimetres to achieve the 170cm mark, the average Japanese female height. And within that time frame her body finally let go of the baby fat and Misaki transformed from a squeamish little country bumpkin into the increasingly-confident, though shy at times, ravishing young lady she was today. Yet despite all that, she kept her hair and high-spiritedness just as they have always been.

A brilliant idea formed in his mind and it made him rather queasy. But would she have the time? Let's try it.

"Erm, Misaki-chan? I was thinking..." Ohjiro started to speak when he felt his words snagging onto his vocal chords. Come on! It's just a...

"Yes?"

He cleared his throat and tried again. "I was... wondering if... you'd be--"

Another tournament hopeful suddenly pounced into the seat, panting and cheering, beside Misaki, startling both the Prince and his princess. It was a smallish boy, maybe about six years of age, and he had been involved in an impromptu race for that last seat with his buddies, who just arrived and were laughing along with him. Misaki jumped a little from that intrusion, but Ohjiro almost fell out of his seat. He grabbed the table edge to steady himself and, cursing his ill-luck inwardly, put on a professional smile and went about dealing with his new customer.

"Ohjiro-kun? What was it that you were thinking about?" Misaki asked.

"Erm..." The boy stammered, his previous resolve in pieces. "I was thinking-- erm..."

"Yes?"

"I was thinking that... that if... Er..." The boy paused for a second then changed the subject. "--that if you had seen those new male Angels in action? Yeah I mean, they supposedly move and respond better to male control because of the new firmware developed from mapping a boy's motor neural pulses. Haha... Yeah..."

He was scratching the back of his head rather sheepishly. _Yeah right. Nice going Ohjiro._

"Well I have seen one or two, but I really can't tell the new one from the old, unless the old one doesn't have the Advance Inner Frame remodelling, or the Angel Cord." Misaki said unsuspecting of what had transpired. "Have you upgraded Wizard?"

"I didn't go for the AIF. Didn't need it." He handled a few questions from the boy then continued, "I've uploaded the new firmware into Wizard just yesterday --uh yes sign here-- and haven't got time to test it yet --yes this spot is optional-- You can see why..."

The brown haired champion, having seen Ohjiro struggling to keep two conversations going, decided to end hers. "Gambatte then Ohjiro-kun. Catch you later. Ja!"

"Mm... Ja." Ohjiro said in a way that seemed to Eugenie to be a little tinged of disappointment. She saw Misaki coming in her direction and made herself look occupied with the wall of useless armors.

"Here you go, Eugenie-san." Misaki handed the extra rulebooks to each Deus as she came around the bend. "Nanoka-chan, this is yours."

The golden haired girl flipped through the thin book and mentally made a note to take it apart that night. For now, she had more things to settle. "Misaki?"

"Yes?"

"Could you not use honorifics amongst the 3 of us? We're friends after all right?"

"Na... That wouldn't be too appropiate..."

"I insist." Eugenie pouted. "Formalities are just a pointless hassle."

"...Okay. I'll try to remember that."

"Now that that's out of the way," Eugenie beamed as she grabbed Misaki's wrist. "Let's get started on our shopping shall we?"

**---Mobile Angel Reiya Eyecatch---**

Eugenie & Ares Umi

What followed was the classic whirlwind of a shopping spree, with Eugenie dragging Misaki all over the shop, stopping once in a while to pull something off here, grab something from there, then dumping it on the hapless champion before zipping off to another booth. Already the brown haired girl was laiden with a red-schemed Albatross with matching Transport Capsule and carrying belt, the PanzerTech F113 personal computer-to-Angel dock (PC-AD, which Eugenie pronounced as Pee-CAD) with FyreWyre port support and the Hyren Test-Square, a gadget that could project a small Layer for an Angel to enter, test and debug its new armors and subroutine patches from the comfort of one's desktop. The pile reached up to her nose and she struggled to look at where she was going, much less keep up. Nanoka offered to help carry the test-square, giving Misaki a brief respite before another load landed in the space created, this time it was a multitude of software and an armor sculpting set. Without a word the quiet girl transferred them to her pile.

"This way you can custom-build armors and weapons that interact automatically with your Angel, leaving you to concentrate on the fight rather than their operation." Eugenie had said when she dropped the CDs onto the champ's stack. Misaki had never used active equipment before save gear that passively affected Hikaru's base stats. The pair of half-inch batons attached to the undersides of Hikaru's forearms were a recent addition since the time melee weapons were mandated, but they were just sticks of dumb silica-resin. She did not understand most of the golden haired girl's lecture, but she took it in whole and stored it for when she got down to fixing everything up later.

Eugenie then left them at the cashier and disappeared to get her own supplies, but not before arranging for all of them to meet at the rental Layers. The two girls dumped the purchases on the counter and watched the lady in pink Piffle uniform set her infra-red scanner to work. She was fast with her machine, and soon a total of 10,000 Angel points flashed on the green LED display of the cash register. Wow..., thought Misaki as she dug her Angel card out again and drained it of points. Eugenie could count the points exactly even while moving so fast...

She wondered how good Eugenie would be at the Layer and could hardly wait to find out.

------

The rental arenas were a dense fog of people as usual. It also made things hard for the champion to practice on her own; cheering crowds bolster her from far, but the ultimate irony was that up-close they have an unnerving effect on Misaki. She wished she knew why, but for now she was thankful to be rubbing shoulders anonymously from behind her red Albatross.

The girls had left their purchases at the safe deposit area behind the counter of the Arenas. Misaki remembered how frazzled the counter girl looked as she hustled their packages into a corner, tagged them and returned with a ticket for each girl to claim them later. They had also caught sight of the state of things in the backrooms; it was nothing short of an absolute mess, with seemingly random and haphazard stacking being the order of the day. And judging from the density of the fleshy jungle, it seemed that every single shopper had decided to turn fighter to complete their Piffle experience, to the dismay of the counter personnel most probably.

"Have you seen Eugenie, Nanoka-chan?" Misaki shouted over the din.

"Ah, not yet, Misaki-chan!" Nanoka's voice came through a couple of bodies. Misaki felt smothered by the human forest and sighed inwardly. I'm still so short compared to everyone else...

That's was when Misaki caught a rather interesting conversation.

"There's quite an intense fight over here."

"Who's taking on who?"

"Suzuka's fighting some kid. It's already been a minute and he's still holding on well!"

"Really? This I got to see."

"Hatoko-chan?" mused Misaki as she and Nanoka squeezed through the crowd while trying to look through the gaps here and there. Instinctively, the girls moved towards a spot where it was not so cramped. And when they parted the last bush, Nanoka and Misaki found themselves in the clearing where all eyes were on. Eugenie was no where in sight,

In the proverbial East Corner sat Hatoko still in her blue Eriol Academy Middle School section uniform, the one that Misaki used to wear until just last year. Her counterpart in the West Corner was dressed in the male version of the same uniform, his fiery red and unruly locks falling haphazardly about the rim of his orange Albatross. It was almost impossible to tell when did his hair end and the visor began. And on the Layer was another sight to behold; there was not a single Suzuka, but a multitude of them dancing circles around a mecha-type angel quite like Umi. But this one was built like a tank; it's massive shoulders, full helm and orange-and-green plate armor that covered every part of the Angel made it resemble a high tech American football player. Only its face was exposed. And to its waist the male Angel held a pair of long tubes which Misaki guessed to be large calibre cannons of some sort. The one on the right was squarish, had a flat nose and massive bore; the one taking the left had a tapered flash suppressor and was somewhat slimmer and more circular. A quick glance to the projected holograms told her that the Angel in question was one Basra.

"Hatoko-chan!" Misaki called out but got no reply. She must be concentrating really hard. Who's this boy she's fighting?

"There's so many of her..." Nanoka noted as Suzuka's dance continued. "How is that possible?"

"Hatoko-chan told me that she had learned a lot about the ninja arts from her family dojo training sessions," Misaki replied without taking her eyes off the battlefield. "That's an illusionary self-replication technique I've seen her perform in last year's competition..."

"There!" cried the Angel's red headed Deus, catching everyone's attention. Basra instantly pivoted on his right leg and unleashed twin columns of red and yellow energy at a part of the illusionary cloud of ninjas while the torpedo pods on his shoulders deployed, ready to fire. 4 Suzukas dissolved in the initial burst. None were real. Then the boy sensed some movement to Basra's back and set off the armed energy missiles. Several lines of computer generated smoke trailed out of the over-sized shoulder blades and streaked to the back in a surprisingly small arc, catching several fake Suzukas in the stomach and exploding with dull booms, clouding the wall with smoke. A moment later the fake Suzukas faded away while the real deal erupted from the cloud just as Basra lumbered to face it; Suzuka had one hand to the hilt of the block tanto hidden in the ribbon on her back, the other held two fingers to her lips channeling a speed chakra spell. There's was no time for big arms fire; Basra popped open the machine cannons mounted on his shoulders and peppered Suzuka's path with vulcans. The jounin avoided the incendiary rounds with ease, interspacing her charge with flash steps to the left and right, discharging kunai blades by the bunches that she summoned with a flick of the wrist. The blades clanged and dissolved harmlessly off Basra's thick hide. He bided his time, waiting for Suzuka to close, then lashed out suddenly, swinging his left cannon like a club; Suzuka somersaulted over, drew her blade and brought it down. Sword met gun in a glint of sparks as the hulking Angel brought the right gun up and over its head.

"Not bad!" Hatoko smirked. Suzuka spiraled off and hit the Layer in a tumble while Basra struck low with his other cannon. It drew a line of sparks as it screeched along the ground in pursuit of the rolling ninja. Basra's right cannon gave a couple of loud reports; Suzuka was airborne before any hit and rode the secondary explosions even higher up.

"Gotcha!" Basra brought both guns up as his shoulder pods, along with the others all over his armor, popped free once more.

"BURNING BIG BANG!" the red haired boy roared over the whiz and bang of his munitions taking flight.

"Where are you shooting at!" Hatoko retorted as the Suzuka above disappeared just before the entire arsenal impacted; another Suzuka emerged out of the smoke created by his earlier cannon attacks.

Her opponent cringed. _"Shimata!"_

Before anyone could blink, the real Suzuka ground her heel into Basra's awestruck face. Everything froze for dramatic effect as light flashed and sound amplified, then Basra, helmet crackling like smashed circuitry, arched backwards in slo-mo as the strike's momentum finally swept him off his feet. The Angel crashed bodily onto the Layer; a CG explosion erupting from his chest announced his demise. The crowd burst into applause.

"ANGEL DOWN!" Barked the machine. "SUZUKA, WIN!"

The boy sat stunned from the sudden defeat, then ripped off his DS visor, an Eagle from Razorman, gacking, "KA! That's was a hell of a confusion, Hatoko-chan! Even my Aegis radar couldn't keep up!"

"You did well anyway," Hatoko replied with an air of haughtiness. "You lasted a whole two minutes. Most people go down under ten seconds."

"They don't call you the _Inazuma Hakushoku_(1) for nothing," the boy said, shaking his head as he reached forward to reclaim his fallen Basra. "Good thing his face is still intact. You probably could tell that I was trying to not to rearrange yours. You could've just returned the favor you know..."

"That was the only weak spot on your Angel," Hatoko said as she turned to get up and flicked a stray lock over her shoulder. "Next time, don't hold back." And she glanced back over her shoulder at the seated Deus. "Because I never do."

"Hatoko-chan!" Misaki cried out as she came running up.

"Konichiwa, Misaki," greeted the little girl in blue.

"That's was great, Hatoko-chan! You're as strong as ever!"

Hatoko replied with one of her enigmatic smiles. "You too Misaki-chan! Have you registered for the Tournament yet?"

"Mm!" She nodded. "I just did!"

"That's good." Hatoko smiled. "I hope you still remember our promise."

"How can I forget?" Misaki said as she brought out her pinkie. "Let's meet on the Layer again."

"Got it." Hatoko shook it with hers then motioned to the violet haired girl peeking from behind Misaki. "Is she with you?"

"Na?" Misaki looked over her shoulder and hastily stepped aside. "Na! I clean forgot! This is Moriyama Nanoka. She's from Hokkaido."

"N-nice to meet you, Hakushoku." The girl stammered, giving a deep bow.

"No need to be that formal! I'm not looking for loyal subjects, yet." Hatoko joked, smiling as she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hatoko. Please called me by that."

Nanoka shook it. "Ah... Okay..."

"Ow! One-san! That was uncalled for!" The redhead yelled suddenly.

The three girls turned and stopped to find Eugenie giving the boy, who was holding a smarting spot on his head, a good licking. "Firing all your missiles plus cannons at once at something you can never be sure of in the first place. And then you missed. How could you commit a mistake like that, Carrot-head? That's for trying to show off."

"And for the last time my name is NOT Carrot-head!" A vein popped out of his forehead as he snapped back. "It's Edouard!"

"I know carrots have no brains," the tall girl replied with a smirk while digging her ear with her pinkie. "I didn't know they made this much noise too."

"STUPID ONE-SAN!" Edouard barked as he charged at his sister. But the tall girl just held his head at an arm's length, leaving the poor 4th level elementary to be comically flailing at air.

"Eugenie, let him be." Misaki said, a little sweat drop appearing by her forehead. She could almost sympathise with him. "Hatoko's a very good Angel fighter after all..."

"Nope, he needs it." Eugenie said as the boy gave up swinging his arms pointlessly. "Otherwise he won't learn from his lesson."

"I'll show you who needs a lesson..." panted the kid.

Hatoko stepped forward and threw a jab of her own. "Oh he's fine now. Besides, seeing my cute classmate clown around is enough to make up for any damage."

Another vein popped out of Edouard's head. "WHY IS EVERYONE AGAINST ME?"

"Well said, sir!" Eugenie exclaimed as she ruffled the fuming red mop. "And now that everyone's going to need some cooling down, how about some Piffle ice cream soda? And I'll buy you a big one Hatoko for that great shot!"

"YOSH!" cheered everyone, except the shortest man present, who, for once, is not Misaki.

**---See You Red Shorty---**

Author's Note

(1) Translated as Lightning Count, Hatoko's new nickname which is a Japanese play on the nickname of Zechs, the pilot of the lightning fast Tallgeese from Gundam Wing.

KA! That really took a while to finish. It's been revised over and over, and now this Piffle Princess afternoon has expanded into 3 chapters! This is just the first, no real indication of Reiya yet but the next one will definitely have a hint. I intend to reveal more of what I thought of Misaki's past in Wakayama as the chapters go by and the Naruto reference is the first of many. In case you're wondering which Gundam Basra was based on, its a cross of the _Buster Gundam _from Shin Kidousenki Gundam SEED and _Gundam Astray Red Frame _from a SEED MSV story. Yes, mecha blood runs in the Kluize family. Wait till you see Edmond's Angel, when he appears that is. :)

Suggestions? Comments? All are welcome. So please press the purple button there and review! Also, if you like your Angel to make an appearance, drop me a review telling me a little about it and we can discuss the details later. Thanks to Alphamech and his angel Magnus. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter. See you next round!


	6. Round 03 PreBattle Calibration! A Sudde

**Round 03 Pre-Battle Calibration! A Sudden 2-on-2!**

"Don't be shy! There's one for everyone!" Eugenie proclaimed as she set the tray of drinks on the table and started dishing them out. She handed one topped with strawberry ice cream to Misaki. "Here you go!" The cup with vanilla in it went to Nanoka. "Less sugar, as usual. Really do you need to watch your weight _that _much? If you're fat, I'm obese!"

The quiet girl just smiled. "I don't really take sweet stuff that's all."

"Oh really..." Eugenie shook her head as she reached for the one with peppermint chocolate chip and passed it to Hatoko. There were two in all. "One for you and one for me!"

"Thank you," Hatoko said. "It appears we share the same great taste."

"I'd drink to that!" Eugenie winked as she pulled her glass over and sat down.

Misaki slid off her DS visor and brushed a few crumpled strands of her fringe off her forehead. As she looked up to take a sip, the champ realized that there was a lone glass left on the brown plastic plate. "Na? Who hasn't gotten her's?"

The girls present glanced at each other and noted that everyone already had their's. There was a cough, then the Eriol Academy ladies remembered the short fuming redhead seated in the corner. He had slouched so low that only his half-closed eyes were visible over the table. All the other's gazes moved till they were on him, while he replied with a likewise stare from his amber pair.

"Well?" Edouard spoke up after a while. "Aren't you going to serve me?"

"Eh?" Eugenie cried out. "You're a guy for god sake's. Serve yourself!"

"Stupid One-san..." The boy grumbled as he leaned forward and reached over for the glass. But due to the drink being placed closer to Eugenie's seat and further compounded by his height, his belly hit the edge of the table and stopped his hand an inch away from the cool silica. He tried stretching further but got no where, his finger tips playing an invisible piano out of reach of the soda. A vericose vein popped out of the side of his forehead; Sweat-drops appeared on the girls'.

"Na... Edouard-kun, why not stand up?" Misaki offered after the little redhead had struggled for a while more.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BEANSPROUT THAT NEEDS TO STAND UP?" snapped Edouard.

Eugenie cracked up in guffaws; Hatoko and Nanoka had their hands pressed to their mouths, racked in giggles; and Misaki was torn between laughing along with the self-admission or crying for being in the same predicament as the younger Kluize. In the end she only managed a most discomforted sweat-drop.

Not realizing his mistake, however, Edouard stood up in a fit and retrieved his chocolate ice cream soda, shoving his straw deep into the dessert and taking a long draught in hope of blowing some steam. The frozen cocoa did the trick, and Edouard mellowed.

Eugenie took in a long draught and squealed. "KA! Brainfreeze! Haha..."

Hatoko shook her head in response to the outburst. "As always Eugenie."

"That's the fun of it, _Hakushoku_!"

"You're hopeless..." Hatoko muttered as she took another sip of her peppermint drink.

Misaki took another sip. "I've never expected Hatoko and you to know each other so well."

The golden haired girl winked. "Well it's a long story that goes all the way back to when the Layer first started."

"That long?"

"Of course. My father had a part to play in it all--"

_**"I'M GONNA KICK DOOR! AND CRASH WALL!" **_(1) screamed Eugenie's pocket to some heavy rock tune, interrupting the conversation. The girl hastily dug her phone out as she got up, apologising as she went. "Erm... You'll have to excuse me... Hello? You certainly know how to..."

The girls and guy watched Eugenie wander out of earshot, and Edouard quipped, "That was weird."

"Let her be, its that mail pal of hers. Always gets us when we're talking." Hatoko said as she turned back to the group. "Anyway, we met when I was a toddler actually."

"That's amazing..." Misaki breathed. "And you could remember it? I can't remember what I was doing at that age."

"...No that's not... Ah-huh, yeah..." Eugenie was whispering, but Misaki couldn't help but hear part of it whenever she turned back to look at the group."

Hatoko smiled in reply. "I matured early that's all. We met at the clothes section during Angelic Layer's launch party, having wandered away from Kotaro." She giggled. "I can still remember how much an earful he got from Oka-chan for that."

Misaki smiled on top her pity for Kotaro.

"So the knight is challenging the bishop..." a bit more of the second conversation suddenly became audible. "Does he know the queen is watching?"

"Does Eugenie play chess?" Misaki asked suddenly.

"Not often." Hatoko replied after swallowing some ice cream. "She'd always win so no one plays with her."

_Na... She's not only pretty and tall, she really smart too... _Misaki thought while sweat-dropping.

"Ano... It does sound like she's helping someone out in a round." Nanoka thought aloud.

"Well her longtime confidante has a lot of interests. The last one was about boat racing, and the one before was about magical starships." Hatoko shrugged when she made the latter statement. "Don't ask me what that was. I'm still wondering how does mana and lasers end up in the same sentence."

The champ blinked. "You sound like you've been eavesdropping on her."

"Couldn't help it. Ninja training makes your senses very sharp," the Countess replied in a matter-of-factly manner and dug another mound out of her dessert once more.

"'Kay 'kay I'll get back to you. Ja!" Eugenie clicked the call off and slid the bar phone back into her skirt pocket, before hurrying back to the table. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Hatoko waved a hand in the air. "It's nothing, we're used to it."

"Well how did the game go, Eugenie?" Misaki asked innocently when the golden haired girl sat down.

"Huh? What game?" The young Kluize was taken aback for a moment, but quickly bounced back. "Oh! That! Erm... It's up to her to finish it off. I hope she wins. Haha..."

"Na?" The answer matched the question, but the champ could not help but sense something amiss.

"Oh that reminds me!" Eugenie suddenly cried out. "Hatoko, will you be still around here after this?

"_Ie,_" the little Countess replied with a shake of her head. "Otou-san needs me to watch over the Dojo while he goes out to run an errand in the evening."

"Oh bummer. I've been so waiting for a chance to record that illusionary technique of yours..." Eugenie moped as she sank her head onto her hand.

Edouard polished off his drink in a long loud draught and stood up. "Well that settles it. I've wasted enough time this afternoon. Got some reading to do..." He dug a book that had _"Basic Theory of Alchemistry: The Collected Writings of Edward Elric"_ embossed as its title out as he walked away. "Don't get lost on the way home, One-chan."

Eugenie huffed and stuck a tongue back at him. "Well YOU better not get run over because the driver couldn't see you, Carrothead!"

"For the last time I'm not Carrothead!" He yelled back before striding out of the dining area.

Eugenie wore a cat's gaze of annoyance. "Good grief, I have a jerk for a brother. How do you even take him Hatoko?"

"He always does what he's told." Hatoko replied lathered with haughtiness again. "That's good enough for me."

Nanoka and Misaki sweat-dropped at the synchronized thought of Hatoko ordering the little redhead around like a slave.

"By the way, have you re-synch'd your visors yet?" Hatoko said to Eugenie. "I told you about it right? That experiment of yours from last week seemed to have affected Umi's reaction speed in our previous duel."

"I fixed that up already." Eugenie put down the spoon. "Umi's doing fine so far this week."

"Synch?" Misaki missed the point for the umpteenth and wondered if she had been took slack with herself with regards to Angelic matters lately.

"Yeah synch," Eugenie returned unfazed. "To accurately sense one's thought patterns, the Albatross runs a series of three tests so that it can sort of 'get used' to being ordered around by you. I suppose that should be in the manual..."

Misaki shook her head. "No I haven't read it yet."

"Have you done the calibration yet?"

Misaki shook her head. "No. We came to look for you the moment we cashed out our purchases."

"I'll help then!" Eugenie stabbed her straw into the ice cream and breathed in deep. "Come on! We'll start once we're through with our drinks."

**---Mobile Angel Reiya Eyecatch---**  
Nanoka & Fuu

"Here we are!" Eugenie sang as she half-pushed, half-coaxed the hapless Misaki into the cushioned Egg seat of the rented Layer while she darted over to another part of the machine. She tapped a button that said "MODE" twice, and the holographic displays above the Layer scrolled from "BATTLE" to "PRACTICE" to "CALIBRATION". The Layer read out the options as they became highlighted, but it only voiced the first syllable before the girl changed it to the next one. She looked up. "All set Misaki! Card in now!"

"Mm!" The champ nodded as she retrieved her Angel Card and clicked it into a slot at her end of the Layer. Hers and Hikaru's name flashed on screen before changing to another one that had a timer bar under some text that said, "Searching for DS Visor now. Please do not remove the headset."

The girls watched the bar fill suddenly, the words "Razorman Albatross detected" appear under the bar, and then followed the screen out as the background cleared, leaving the plain glowing floor of a fully-charged Layer. Once the transition was complete, the machine gave the next instruction. "SELECT OPPONENT"

"Select opponent?" Misaki wondered. "I thought calibration could be done by one person..."

"It is," Eugenie replied as she came over. "To test the mental connection, the Albatross attempts to take a picture of an enemy you visualize in your mind and manifest it on the Layer. Once that is complete, the images become calibration test targets. So just think of something you'd like to bash up."

"I see..."

Misaki had barely finished speaking when the Layer gave out popping sounds and small puffs of smoke at the far end of Layer. It quickly cleared away, leaving a trio of small yellow-domed machines with stubby green feet. A green line ran almost the circumference of each of their helmets, breaking in the front to accomodate a small circle; those were the signature markings of Mettool hard hats.

"Oh no! Viruses are taking over your Homepage!" Eugenie cried in mock horror. "Quick! Delete them!" (2)

"Na..." Misaki was more surprised than floored by the lame mimicry.

"Just kidding." Eugenie laughed. "When I did mine I got Zaku Two's. Nanoka got some weird sandworms(3)."

"Sandworms?" Misaki asked.

Eugenie shrugged for a reply. "Next we release Hikaru into the Layer."

"Okay!" Misaki said as she picked up Hikaru and wound her arms back like a batter. "_Wings of the--_"

"WAIT!" Eugenie yelled and Misaki froze, almost dropping Hikaru in fright. "That was close..." the golden-haired girl breathed then elaborated. "You see, the Albatross might not be interpreting your brain waves at all because of the lack of pre-calibration and therefore Hikaru won't be receiving signals from you. That means Hikaru might not respond when you release her and if you throw her too hard she might just crash into the Layer."

"Na..." Misaki said as she drew her Angel back. "To think I almost hurt Hikaru. Good thing you stopped me in time..."

"It's ok. Just place her gently on the Layer and see if she stands up."

The champ took another look at her Angel, then leaned forward. It was the first time she felt the Layer barrier, and its iridescent ripples tickled her skin as she pushed Hikaru through. It was like dipping her hand into warm morning bathwater, except that the "water" was only an inch thick and Misaki's small hands emerged into air on the other side. She set Hikaru in a sitting position on the glowing energy disc and withdrew her hands. The Angel did not budge.

"Are you moving Hikaru yet?" Eugenie asked.

"I am," Misaki replied as she tried to get Hikaru to stand up once more to no avail.

"Give it a while. In the meantime, try not to change the thoughts in your mind and focus on moving Hikaru."

_Moving Hikaru... _the champ thought. That had become second nature to Misaki and it felt really weird looking at her Red Comet sitting mutely on the Layer despite her repeated replays of mental command sequences in her head. It had been a long time since her debut fight with Shadow Panther after all. But she remembered how thrilled she was when she sort of picked up the skill for Angel control on the fly thanks to advice from the Father of the Layer himself. Misaki wondered inwardly if that fateful lesson would be of any use now. What was it that Icchan said back then? _Imagine that Hikaru was moving. Visualize how each joint would move. The sharper the mental image, the more accurately the computer would receive them..._

Hikaru shivered a little, and Misaki sat up.

_Just a bit more..._

It was halting at first, like a baby testing its new limbs. Hikaru shifted her arms from her knees to the floor, bracing herself as she shifted her weight onto her kneeling feet. Soon, her movement began to pick up, and Hikaru tee-tottered to an upright position, swaying slightly as she tried to get used to her oddly jelly-fied legs. But it did not last long, and the red Angel stood firm, arms held in front of her chest, ready for a fight.

"Connection complete!" Eugenie declared enthusiastically. "Now let's get the test going."

There was a buzz, and a red squiggle tore out from under Hikaru. The sudden appearance of the line startled Misaki, and Hikaru wavered a little. Misaki quickly made some mental corrections and once Hikaru was standing again proceeded to watch the travelling marker. It was drawing turns, arcs and zig-zags on the Layer as it made a beeline for the first Mettool. Because of the speed the head of the squiggle was going at, Misaki expected some sort of impact upon contact. So it seemed surprising to her that the line just disappeared quietly under the dome-headed virus.

"Okay. For the first test, you've got to run Hikaru along the marker trail and land a hit on the first target. If you stray from the trail or trip up, the computer would interpret it as a miscommunication between the visor and Deus, make corrections and Hikaru would be moved to the beginning where you'll have to start over." Eugenie explained as she traced the path with her finger. "So for the most accurate calibration, try not to make a wrong call and run her off-track."

"I got it. Here goes!" Misaki replied. Hikaru took a step forward, then took off sluggishly, swaying and tilting as her feet seemed to be absorbing her weight in all the wrong ways. It took the best swinging efforts of her arms to keep her balance. Misaki thought quickly and decided to slow her visualizations till she was manually placing Hikaru's steps one foot at a time. The Angel obeyed and slowed down. She threaded the line cautiously, testing each step before placing the next. In the meantime, the Albatross hummed and clicked away as its sensing routines made adjustments, ran diagnostic tests that looped results back into the main circuits which then made more adjustments based on those results. Hikaru's steps grew firmer, and Misaki quickened her pace. Soon, the Red Comet was back to charging at full speed, and Hikaru cleared the winding path. The line became a straight runway leading up to the first Mettool.

"Ha!" Misaki breathed as Hikaru kicked her heels together and leaped into the sky, somersaulting a couple of times before coming out of the spin. A heavy kick onto the yellow dome squashed the virus with a loud _crump_, computer generated secondary explosions engulfing the silly target before vanishing in a louder boom accompanied by a bigger plume of smoke.

"You did it Netto!" squealed Misaki's assistant. "Now for the second one."

Eugenie poked at another hologram floating within the Layer, and the Mettool to Hikaru's right sprang awake, unveiling and waving its pickaxe at the red Angel. Hikaru instinctively backed away; the virus did not follow.

"This time it's a test of how well the Albatross registers your reflexes." Eugenie pointed to the pickaxe. "See that? When the target swings its pickaxe back, counter the Mettool by getting your Angel to hit it. Just a light strike would do."

Hikaru stepped forward; Misaki saw the pickaxe move and gave the command; Hikaru jabbed the bug, watching it recoil away from her fist. A perfect counter! There was a pause long enough for Misaki to imagine Hikaru with the pink halo of Full-Synchro hovering around her, after which Mettool shifted again. Misaki did the same thing, but Hikaru lagged a little, and the pickaxe connected, causing the Angel to reel in pain.

"Hikaru!"

"It's alright. Its just a simulation so there's no physical damage," assured Eugenie. "Let's keep at it; The Albatross would handle the rest."

Misaki nodded, and the pickaxe moved again. Hikaru countered it perfectly, but missed the next two attacks, hit twice, then missed another two. The retinue continued until Hikaru got about three to four in a row before lagging. Things got better quickly beyond that point and when Hikaru got ten hits in a row the Mettool suddenly blew up, its helmet lobbed high into the air, only clattering back down quite some distance away before dissolving back into the Layer.

"Okay! Now for the last test. Step over to the last virus."

What happened next surprised everyone. Hikaru strode over as she was told, but she then squatted down to peer into the small bump's blank gaze, head tilting her head from side to side as though she was trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Eugenie wondered just what in the world was Misaki thinking of. Nanoka leaned forward. And Misaki blinked in surprise; Hikaru was moving her own?

"Uh... Very funny Misaki. Shall we carry on with the test?" At that point Hikaru started poking the virus with her finger like a child making a new discovery.

"Na? I'm not doing that..." Misaki looked at Eugenie in utter amazement. "In fact, I'm not thinking of Hikaru at all!"

"Nani?" Eugenie cried. "If that's the case Hikaru should be lying on the floor! I suppose the Albatross is detecting some sub-concious memory that's being played in your mind. It happened to me once, and it was after I had completed calibration." She smiled. "Umi started acting like how she did when she appeared in my dream."

"Na..." Misaki said as she told Hikaru to stand up. And the Angel complied, but the Deus thought she saw Hikaru stick out her tongue, as though she poo-pooed the idea, a split second before the champ assumed control. Misaki looked more closely, but to no avail; Hikaru, if she did make a face, was back to her serious fighter self and the brown-haired girl let the matter rest.

"This would test the sensitivity of the Albatross to your strength of thought. Just give this bug the hardest smash in one hit."

Hikaru took a step back. _Its so short... Rolling Thunder isn't going to hit. I guess this should do. _Misaki thought for a while, then Hikaru drew her arm back, placing her focus into a ball of crackling light and electricity and thrusting it into Mettool point blank. The _Seirei no Hikari _erupted with a bang, its brilliant collateral sweeping outwards and shrouding all in blinding flares. Even the Layer barriers buzzed and flickered upon contact. When it all cleared, Hikaru stood alone, the Mettool completely vaporized.

"Na..." said Eugenie, awestruck. "The famous _Seirei no Hikari _finisher passed down from mother to daughter... I wish I recorded that on Ares..."

"You really should have. That _Seirei no Hikari _is much more powerful than the one I last saw," came a familiar voice from a group of spectators.

Eugenie, Nanoka and the champ turned in their seats to see the two figures who had just stepped out of the crowd. They may have grown taller and changed their hairstyles, but Misaki recognized the Fujisaki sisters instantly. "Arisu-san! Madoka-san!"

"It's been a while, Suzuhara-san," replied the younger Fujisaki somewhat darkly.

"Na?" Misaki squeaked, vaguely sensing the hidden jab. And unnoticed to everyone, Hikaru spun round to face Arisu, taking up her "battle ready" stance once again.

"Arisu!" Madoka frowned at her little sister and added to Misaki with a weak smile. "Don't mind her, she'll still sore from our defeat to you. You know how well we can hold grudges..."

"Na..." Misaki sighed then continued. "I better introduce you all first! This is Moriyama Nanoka." Misaki gestured to the quiet violet-haired girl who nodded in response. "And this is _Yujinni Kurusu_..." The champ motioned to the tallest girl present, opting for the _Hiragana_-rized pronunciation.

"Claire-Marie Eugenie de Kluize," corrected the golden-haired girl as she clapped a balled-fist into the palm of the other and gave a small bow. "_Ni hao_."

Madoka blinked in surprise as she recognized the martial greeting and replied likewise. "_Ni hao! _You can speak Mainland Chinese? And how did you know that I practice _wushu_?"

"_Simple!_" Eugenie replied in English, then went back to Japanese. "I might not look like it, but I'm a quarter-Chinese, quarter-French, and half Japanese! Pretty neat combination, no?" She stood up and did a twirl, let her shimmering locks dance in the air. She then pointed to a pair of wheeled Egg Seats left at another unoccupied Layer. "Do pull up a chair and join us! Anyway I've seen you and Mao around here once, thrashing many Deus with that kung fu of yours. I so wanted to challenge you... But when I tried to contact you for a sparring session both you and your sister practically vanished! Where have you been?"

"Very observant." Madoka replied as she and her sister hauled the squeaky Seats over and sat down. "The both of us left for China a few months after the Finals four years ago. We only just got back this week, and this is the first time we've stepped into the Piffle Princess for so long. Come to think of it, it's almost as if our paths were fated to cross here..."

"What has to happen will happen," Eugenie added cryptically with a nod, and both girls smiled as though they were sharing an inside joke.

"Na?" Misaki was lost as usual. Hikaru scratched the back of her head. Nanoka kept mum, but she seemed to be following it very well.

"Never mind that," Eugenie said then turned back to Madoka. "What did you do there? Four years is a pretty long time."

"My mother said she had to monitor the setting-up of the Chinese branch of her business closely and since our father is often in China doing Literature research, we moved." replied the tall girl in Oriental clothes. "There aren't any official Angelic Layer tournaments in China so in our spare time we had to settle for small shop events. Otherwise we studied and--"

"We trained," Arisu cut in as she stared daggers at Misaki.

"Um... Yes, we trained..." Madoka said uncomfortably. "Arisu..."

"Shall we have a battle?" Arisu ignored her sister and cut through the chase. "I've been waiting very long for this chance!"

Madoka shrugged. "That's the reason why she dragged me out here at the first moment we could, though I still feel its kind of rude to challenge someone outright..."

"I knew it," Eugenie quipped inaudibly.

"It's okay!" Misaki nodded in agreement, causing Hikaru to nod as well. "It's been a long time for me too! Shall we see how much we've improved?"

"Hold on, Suzuhara-san." Arisu spoke as she started rummaging through her pack. "It's Alice and me you'll be facing!"

"Alice?" Misaki and Hikaru blinked in unison when they saw the long-haired brunette of an Angel in a blue and pink frock. "Oh she's your Angel! That's great!"

Eugenie had a different reaction; Alice reminded her of someone she met before. "Miyuki-chan?"

"What?" Everyone present chimed.

"I-ie!" The golden haired girl shook her head quickly. "It's nothing." She then sighed. "Misaki's going to have another shot at the _Light of Souls_, and I won't be able to record it again..."

Madoka struck an idea. "You said you wanted to challenge me right? If we make this match a two-on-two fight..."

Eugenie lit up. "Ares can record when Hikaru fires! The more records the merrier, and I don't have to fight Misaki head on! You're a genius, Madoka!" She then turned to the other Deus. "But it'll have to depend on the both of you."

Misaki shrugged. "It's fine with me."

"Same here, as long as you don't get in the way," said Arisu curtly.

"It'll be nothing more intrusive than being under the viewfinder of a satellite," assured Eugenie, the bright glint of excitement in her eyes as her hand travelled to the Transport Capsule that housed Umi. "Since Hikaru's already in the Layer, shall we get on with it right away?"

"It'll be my pleasure," replied Madoka, smiling as she retrieved Mao from her carrier and set her on the arm rest. "Now that I've got a reason to fight."

"Right!" The other Deus nodded and drew out their Angel Cards for the plug-in.

"_Dong! Nan! Si! Bei!_" Madoka declared as she made various hand gestures, each representing a chi point opening up. "_Si long jiang tian, jue dui wu di!_"

The exponent slapped her palm down on the armrest, and the rippling force coursing through the cushion kicked the dormant Angel into the air. Madoka jabbed two fingers into Mao mid flight, and the warrior sped forward into the Layer barrier. "_Zhan ba, Mao!_ FALL IN!"

"_Through a rabbit's hole and a looker's glass!"_ Arisu followed suit as she hurled Alice into the air while yelling in English. "_Catch us if you can, ye little lass!_ Alice, FALL IN!"

Eugenie was the look of calm as she clipped her Albatross into place. Instantly her Deus-view panel amongst the holograms sprang to life as it displayed what the mecha-fangirl saw: There were big letters in bold proclaiming "Welcome to M.O.S" subtitled by "Moriyama Operation System" and held the foreground to a digital cube in the back. The words faded, and the cube broke up. Another set of letters lined themselves vertically along the left of the screen: "A-N-G-E-L". Cursors then shot off towards the right, spelling out what they stood for: "Advanced Neural Guided Encounter Legionnaire". The visuals faded to battle view; Eugenie lifted Umi off her lap. Then, once the visor completed pre-synchronisation preparations, it flashed the words: "Cleared for Launch". She smirked.

"Eugenie Kluize. Astray Umi..." The golden haired girl said as she swung out, casting the angel forward. "_Hashinzuru!_"

The three Angels soared towards the barrier at breakneck speed as Hikaru watched from below.

**--- ANGELIC FIGHT! ---**

**Author's Note**

(1) Initial stanza of "OVER" by "High and Mighty Color". Eugenie likes to use their rock tunes for ringtones.

(2) Reference. Rockman said something in that manner during the tutorial found at the start of every Rockman.EXE game.

(3) Reference. Sandworms are native to a world where the Asura frontliners from _Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's _find themselves during their third major conflict against the _Wolkenrietter._

Madoka's cheer translates to "North! South! East! West! The strength of the Eastern Sea Dragon descending from the heavens cannot be matched! Stand up, Mao!"

Eugenie's cheer comes from the famous launch sequences that go with all Gundam flicks. As you can see, she heavily modded her gear to her tastes, and uses an Angel operating system that Nanoka designed. Wait till you see her bedroom workshop!

Arisa's cheer... Well... It's some random thing I dreamed up by mangling Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately, Miyuki-chan references or jokes here wouldn't be too appropiate, especially for a girl her age, ne?

Part two of the Piffle Princess afternoon is now up! As so after watching the long cut scene of Misaki going to class, meeting new friends and arriving at the Piffle Princess, you assume control and follow Nanoka's directions to head for the cafetaria, hence starting off another cut-scene which then brings you to the Tutorial that teaches you how to operate Hikaru and battle on the Layer-- You get my drift. :) Part of the inspiration for this chapter came while I was selecting the song "Futatsu no Mirai" to be _MAR_'s 1st opening theme. The other part comes from my theory that Misaki played Rockman.EXE before, a claim evidenced by how much Hikaru's armor seems to be a red version of the Netnavi's, especially that screw on the chest. Oh and if you watched the last episode of Angelic Layer closely, you'll see Arisu sparring with Madoka using Alice, and there'll be one point when Alice's side profile becomes visible. If you zoom in on the Angel then, you'll realize that she's the splitting image of Miyuki-chan from the CLAMP manga, "Miyuki-chan in Wonderland". :)

Stay tuned for an explosive fight! The true extent of Eugenie's power is about to revealed! And as a white manjuu would put it, "Mokona Modoki can hardly wait!" Read and Review, and I'll see you next Round!


	7. Round 04 Dragon Eyes versus Dragon Claws

"_Dong! Nan! Si! Bei!_" Madoka declared as she made various hand gestures, each representing a chi point opening up. "_Si long jiang tian, jue dui wu di!_"

The exponent slapped her palm down on the armrest, and the rippling force coursing through the cushion kicked the dormant Angel into the air. Madoka jabbed two fingers into Mao mid flight, and the warrior sped forward into the Layer barrier. "_Zhan ba, Mao!_ FALL IN!"

"_Through a rabbit's hole and a looker's glass!"_ Arisu followed suit as she hurled Alice into the air while yelling in English. "_Catch us if you can, ye little lass!_ Alice, FALL IN!"

Eugenie was the look of calm as she clipped her Albatross into place. Instantly her Deus-view panel amongst the holograms sprang to life as it displayed what the mecha-fangirl saw: There were big letters in bold proclaiming "Welcome to M.O.S" subtitled by "Moriyama Operation System" and held the foreground to a digital cube in the back. The words faded, and the cube broke up. Another set of letters lined themselves vertically along the left of the screen: "A-N-G-E-L". Cursors then shot off towards the right, spelling out what they stood for: "**A**dvanced **N**eural **G**uided **E**ncounter **L**egionnaire". The visuals faded to battle view; Eugenie lifted Umi off her lap. Then, once the visor completed pre-synchronisation preparations, it flashed the words: "Cleared for Launch". She smirked.

"Eugenie Kluize. Astray Umi..." The golden haired girl said as she swung out, casting the angel forward. "_Hashinzuru!_"

**Round 04 Dragon Eyes versus Dragon Claws**

The Fujisaki Angels hit the barrier simultaneously, sending a tremendous ripple running through the entire circumference as they punctured through. Bits of the electro-kinetic wall clung to the dolls as they passed through, giving them a faint golden shine. Energy poured into their circuits, snapping the angels awake. Their Deii primed their commands; the Angels responded, coiling into a simultaneous somersault that kicked off any last amnion on their resin fabrics and falling like stones. They came out of the tumble at the last minute, kicking into the Layer with both feet, rolled forward with the momentum then landed back on their feet, striking and kicking at air in a quick warm-up before finishing in a seasoned battle stance. They had both feet wide apart, a shoulder and an arm towards the enemy, the other hovering like bared fangs by their heads.

Umi came next, her heavy mass hardly bothered by the soft glowing barrier as she went through. Eugenie focused as she felt Umi stirring; the Angel's armored head nudged up a little, then her eyes came aglow with blue light and mechanical buzz. Her armor started to hum; parts that Misaki noted were gray in class began emitting faint white particles from their surface. Then, like waves washing across a surreal lagoon, color spread from the Angel's core and painted the gray pseudo-steel in the shade of the Magic Knight of Water. Eugenie pulled at another mental lever; with a puff of CG jet exhaust and accompanying hiss, the massive sword fixed to the Angel's back came free. Umi fired her thrusters at the same time, flexing her arms then shifting into the spread-eagle stance of a free-falling parachutist. Her blade hung behind as she thundered past, whirring and clicking as armor and gears moved to positions from one mode to the next. Back pack became big sword in the second Umi took to clang loudly onto the Layer and stretch out an open palm. She snatched the hulking weapon out of the air, twirled it around like a toothpick on a ring before stabbing it into the Layer with another resounding chink.

Hikaru quit staring and shifted into her trademark hands-to-chest battle stance.

"I'm surprised the Layer is still intact after that punishing entry," Madoka quipped as Mao continued to hop about from one foot to the next. "How does that heavy Angel even move?"

"Ha! Think what you like, Madoka," Eugenie said as she eyed her sparring partner through the blue-tinted lens before adding. "Just don't underestimate the Arena Master..."

"It would be an insult to underestimate any opponent..." Madoka added.

"Now, for the next step," Eugenie reached into her pack and picked up two more machines, one looking like some sort of fighter plane while the other resembled a space station. She cast them into the Layer like Umi. "Ares! Satellite! _Kidou!_"

"Bots!" Misaki thought as recognition dawned. Bots have been around for about a year now, and they serve as remote-controlled assistants to Angels on the field, a bit like the pages were to knights of ages past. At the point of introduction bots took the form of chibified Angels that performed on-the-field repairs and later carried spare weapons because the prototype silica-resin used to make most blockswords was rather brittle and broke often. Some Deus experimented with the bots by modifying them with lances and used them like kamikaze pilots, ramming them into their opponents while the controller Angel stayed out of harm's way. Several hundred patches, expansions and rule changes later, bots have evolved into shapes, forms and functions beyond their inventors' imagination. There was no limit to the number of bots one can field because the extra effort needed to control the bots increases exponentially as their numbers increase. And even then, the controller Angel's movements would be limited as compared to without the bots moving around, thus acting as a balance to the increase in advantage granted by the drones. The average comfort level is three at a time; some Deus can go as high as six. Only the really talented can go into the tens AND still move their Angel effectively.

"Hello..." Arisu waved indignantly in the daydreaming Misaki's face. "Anybody home?"

"Na?" The champ hastily snapped back to reality. "Uh yes! I'm ready! Sorry about that..."

The bot called Ares kicked to full throttle the moment it was through, streaking into the sky and screaming like an eagle, as it made a quick circuit just within the rim of the barrier, causing it to ripple in its wake. Satellite was more subtle; Well-polished solar foils glinting in the Layer's glow, it floated to the highest point of the particle-filled air and stayed there, as if it was completely ignoring the fuss its counterpart was kicking up. Another burst of thruster fire brought the unmanned fighter into a slow circle under the orbiter.

"They're in full detection mode so I'll leave them as they are," Eugenie said after her drones settled into routine. "I hope you'll excuse me for not fighting with my full strength."

Madoka nodded and leaned forward to touch a floating holo. "I'm sure I'll get to see your full potential again soon."

**_"Tag Team Battle!" _**announced the machine with preprogrammed over-enthusiasm as it dimmed the layer and turned the barrier almost opaque black. **_"EAST CORNER. Suzuhara Misaki, Hikaru!" _**It threw Misaki's digital portrait behind a floating hologram of her Angel on the left. **_"Eugenie Kluize, Umi!" _**The second set of pictograms took the spot under the Red Comet's. **_"Versus WEST CORNER. Fujisaki Arisu, Alice!" _**The younger sister's set took the top right hand corner. **_"Fujisaki Madoka, Mao!" _**And the last warrior took the last space. The images lingered for a brief moment more, then parted as the barrier returned to its original lack of shading, leaving a counter that ticked off the seconds from 3.

_**"This will be a match to remember..."**_

Misaki sat up straighter; Eugenie leaned back, grip tightening on the arm rests, vaguely imagining G-forces pressing her into her seat; Arisu smirked; and so did Madoka.

**_"Angelic... FIGHT!"_**

There was a loud crash and they were off. Hikaru flipped out her batons and charged; Umi slid along in a noisy vernier dash, trailing her massive sword behind her like a kite; Mao's hand reached for the sabre sheathed by her side; Alice rolled into a rapid succession of cartwheels. They clashed in the middle of the Layer, with Hikaru deftly intercepting a flying kick from Alice coming out of the spin and Mao flashing out the thin curved blade to absorb Umi's cleaving strike. The cat-like Angel then bounded away just as Umi spun away with the parried momentum and returned to slam the Arms into the spot where Mao was less than a second ago. Madoka landed Mao and looked up; The blue Angel quickly recovered her swing and rocketed towards her adversary blade first. Meanwhile, Alice was showing great shape and giving the red Angel something like a hard time, raining punches ballerina style into equally quick forearms, twirling away suddenly then come spinning back at her opponent in an upside-down helicopter kick, and basically giving Misaki absolutely no chance to retaliate.

"I see…" Nanoka remarked, prompting Eugenie to ask for clarification without taking her eyes off the battlefield.

"Alice has a bottom-heavy dress, but thanks to her hair and bunny ears, she has a perfect center of gravity," Nanoka said as she pointed to the Angel's diminutive plastic appendages often associated with questionable erotica. "Not to mention all her stats are also without bias. Taken together, you can see that flexibility is built into her."

"Reading Angel blogs again, haven't you?" Eugenie quipped as she glanced aside while Umi swung a punch from behind her parried sword at Mao. And deus cursed, "Aw, missed again."

Madoka was more stunned than relieved at that attack, and Mao wore her thoughts on her face. _She looked away and yet got so close…_

"Ie," the usually quiet girl replied as though nothing happened. "Alice and Mao have showed up on forums and fan-zines a few times so there's quite a body of data about them."

"Wow you really know a lot," Misaki smiled. "I see that Nanoka also loves the Angelic Layer very much."

"Ah… Hai…"

The young Kluize saw Nanoka's bowed head from the corner of her vision and added, "Yup she's the world's best web-crawler for Angel data. No search engine can come close to her. Anyway there's nothing to be embarrassed about that!"

The Champion said nothing; Suzuhara suddenly saw an opening while Alice took a high-angled swing and bent under her thrust. Hikaru immediately followed up with a tumble kick. It caught Alice in the chest, but due to the lack of momentum when compared to a full blown Rolling Thunder, it only knocked 20 HP off the fighter. Arisu cartwheeled Alice to a safer distance.

"Tsk, you got lucky," the younger Fujisaki retorted and ran her Angel in another direction. Misaki responded with an intercepting run.

Eugenie was not having much luck though. To Madoka, she had all the time in the world to foresee every swing and Mao ducked, jumped, rolled and parried. And every once in a while, when Umi stopped spinning like a top to drive in a stab, Mao would disappear from view, emerge from her flash step from another angle and try for a punch or kick. The golden haired girl reacted in due time, using the massive sword as a tower shield then whirled around for a rocket-powered counterattack. Mao managed to get through twice, but due to Umi's thick hide, only 6 HP was lost in total. Then Umi made a particularly awkward block, and seemed to go a little off balance, prompting Mao to lash out with her wafer-thin blade. But once again, Eugenie saw it coming before the attack began, and Umi dropped flat onto her back. Mao's attack whistled over her head, and Umi's verniers exploded into fire, dragging her out of the way of Mao's returning downward slash. Another burst and the hulky doll clanged back on her feet, the Arms held at an angle towards Mao.

"Impressive dodge, Eugenie," Madoka said as Mao sheathed her blade. "It is impossible for a heavy Angel like yours to be viable in the old Layer, but your smart use of your maneuvering jets made her almost as agile as a speed-type. Even so," she paused as she looked at Eugenie in the eye. "I've gotten in far less then I think I should have."

"Indeed," Kluize replied with a small smirk. "What makes you think so?"

Madoka laughed a little. "Your reputation precedes you, Arena Master. You must know that Tanglevale Beer has its origins in China."

"Yes the company that organized the Tanglevale Brawl from which I got my title." Eugenie replied matter-of-factly. "I'm surprised that the news would spread that far."

"The original Tanglevale Brawl is held in Beijing Tiannanmen Square every Friday night, with the help of a local Angelic Layer hobby shop, as an unconventional way of promoting their drinks." Madoka continued. One could almost imagine the background behind her changing to an anime-style pictogram of two Angels in Oriental dresses slugging it out in front of a cheering drunken crowd as she spoke. "And when a new Arena Master is crowned, be it in Beijing, New Shenton or Tokyo, the Master's name would be shouted out to everyone. And when they discovered the 5th Arena Master, this was what they said: 'The one who can take one look at an entire battlefield and know where every Angel is going to be in the next second or two..."

Madoka's eyes gaze narrowed dramatically. "They called you the one with the_ **'Ryugan'**_.(1)"

"_Ryugan,_ huh?"Eugenie smiled. "That's a funny name for my talent. Oh whatever. It's true that I read my opponents like an open book. And what you see in your mind, I'll see it immediately, faster than your Angel can respond. But that's not all; the more I battle the same person, the further into the future I can predict her actions. Soon I'll be able to see when and where a critical opening will emerge, and it'll be over in a snap."

"That's terrifying," Madoka noted and primed Mao into batou stance. "So bring it on."

"Two seconds!" Eugenie declared, and Umi charged.

Hikaru broke away from a rather long skirmish with free-rolling Alice, but this time Alice did not follow.

"You are good at melee, Misaki." Arisu said. "If we fought four years ago, I would've lost.(2) But now… Let's see how you'd fare at range!"

Alice suddenly went into a spin like a disc thrower and lashed both her arms forward, releasing two whirling projectiles from her palms. "_Flying Saucer!_"

"Where did those come from!" Misaki gasped as Hikaru flipped her batons to her forearms and blocked the disc coming from the right. What happened next caught the champ totally by surprise; the first frisbee struck so hard that the baton almost crumpled upon itself. Hikaru's arm was knocked out of place, the Angel tee-tottered on her heels and Misaki worked hard to correct it. Then came the next projectile, with Misaki barely enough time to raise her Angel's remaining parry to her face. Hikaru intercepted that shot successfully, but the reaction force completely swept the red Angel off her feet. Hikaru bounced for a bit before friction got a grip on her a headlength from the edge of the Layer. The health bar caught up with the events and Hikaru was down by 10 HP.

"H-how's that possible?" Misaki thought nervously while getting Hikaru to stand up. "For something that small to hit like a train..."

"I thought you could stand up to that!" Arisu taunted. "As a Champion you should know what kind of attack that was."

"That kind of attack? I've never see it before!" Misaki sweated a little.

"Tsk, I really wonder how did you manage to hold onto your title for so long!" Alice dashed forward. "_Flying Saucer!_"

Misaki knew better than to block the second time round. Hikaru ran into the spinning discs, and then dove at the last moment, the discs crossing overhead. The Red Comet pushed off the floor and resumed her assault. But Misaki soon blinked in surprise; the out-flying dishes suddenly made a U-turn like a pair of boomerangs and came back for more. Hikaru bounded off and quickly rotated into a high flying somersault, the discs passing safely under. Now it was Arisu's turn to seize her chance; Alice flashed a step towards the falling Hikaru and lashed out in a rising upper cut. Caught without wings, Misaki could only raise her damaged batons into the attack, but that hardly absorbed any impact, and the resulting explosion of chi threw the Angel far away. The red Magic Knight crash-landed back-first in the center of the Layer, bounced twice, rolled out of control for a bit, and then came to a stop face-down.

"Hikaru!"

She was down by 70 HP; Alice had hardly a scratch; Umi had taken 20 out of the standard 200 life total; and Mao had lost just as much.

**Mobile Angel Reiya Eyecatch  
**Fujisaki Arisu and Alice

Umi rammed both feet onto the Layer and skidded, sparks and all, to a halt when Eugenie saw Hikaru crash. "What the…"

Mao padded down silently and sheathed her blade again, wearing the same bemused smirk as her Deus.

Alice hit the floor stilettos first and cart-wheeled back to her sister's side.

Hikaru got up haltingly, a hand clutching her stomach. On Misaki's display, she could tell that the red Angel had sustained a lot of physical damage at the diaphragmatic actuator. Umi shifted a little to look at her comrade, her blade and body still squared towards Mao and Alice.

"Are you alright?" Eugenie asked.

Misaki shook her head; Hikaru did the same. "I'm fine." The little veteran let go of her stomach and assumed her trademark battle stance. "Don't worry about me."

"There's no stopping you, Misaki," Eugenie grinned a little as Umi took a few steps to the right, out of Alice's way. She could see that an idea was already forming in the Champ's mind.

_She turned the discs around without touching them… There has to be a way she does that._ Misaki steeled herself and her Angel. _Let's find out, Hikaru!_

Hikaru leaned forward and sprang ahead. Umi timed her attack with the red Angel and swung her blade back out to charge as Hikaru passed. Thrusters blaring, the blue Angel with her wide reach lashed out first, prompting Mao to dart away. The mecha angel switched tack; she tucked the sword under her arm and grabbed the pistol grip, and the weapon shifted form again, bringing the hidden gatling gun into view. Madoka gasped.

"_Kuso!_"

The cannon blared to life, raining bolts of steel thunder at wherever it pointed, and Mao flipped, ducked, darted and rolled to get out of the way. A few stray shots grazed her arm and leg, scratching another 5 off her life total.

"_The neutral Layer is perfectly flat, which puts range-power Angels like Umi in an advantageous position," _thought Madoka._ "I'll have to use this!"_

Mao torqued out of her flash step on her right foot and plunged her sword into the Layer. To the shooting Angel's surprise, the grid floor rose up like a tsunami in a ring around Mao, blotting out the target and deflecting shots in all directions.

"That's possible?" Eugenie protested loudly as Umi clamped the sword onto her shoulders in pack mode and roared into the sky, out of the way of the wave. "Manipulating the Layer to such an extent…"

The Deus suddenly noticed the warrior-type Angel was flying beside her, and moved in time to stop the incoming blade, with a two-handed clamp, just inches from her face. Discharging energies lit both Angels up as each other's will warred for dominance.

"There's definitely something to be learnt from this…"

A massive ball of energy passed underneath the floating Angels and exploded, throwing light and shockwaves all around. Alice just spun clear before it even hit, her incredible stilettos clearly no hindrance to the pink whirl at all.

"Ha!" Arisu laughed. "The _Seirei no Hikari_ takes a long time to charge, and only travels in straight lines. I can throw far more _Flying Saucers_ within that time, and not even you can dodge them completely!"

She cast out another pair of flying discs.

"I believe we can!" Misaki yelled as Hikaru charged the same way as before. This time Arisu aimed the saucers into a vertical plane and expected the Champ to step either left or right. But Misaki bettered that; the Red Comet jumped _through _the impossibly small space, just a hair's breadth from both top and bottom razor edges, and pushed off the floor with her fingers as she came down, turning into the same upside down spinning kick Alice had fed to Hikaru earlier.

_She copied me already?_ Arisu protested mentally while breaking Alice away from Hikaru. Her discs promptly dissolved. _She's gotten faster at being totally un-original…_

Unlike the younger girl, Misaki's mind was racing about other things. _That spin kick didn't hitch onto anything, which means they aren't controlled by wire… The air isn't rippling, and so is the Layer under them, that rules out control through these mediums as well…_

Umi lashed out with a kick. Mao tapped off the in-swinging attack and broke away again, landing a couple of doll lengths away and leaving the blue mecha alone for a while. Eugenie took the chance to catch her breath when another alarm moved her attention to another portion of her display in the Albatross. The CP indicator, remodeled to resemble the battery meter common of Eugenie's favorite mecha series, was blinking red.

"_Tsk… Umi has only 10 percent power left. If I run out, Umi won't be able to fly and the PS reserve would be useless… Satellite's in Full Detection, so I can't call for a recharge without deleting the data gathered inside… Have to cut CP usage."_

A bang and hiss of CGI smoke disengaged Umi's transforming backpack, the mass crashing to the floor, and the Angel assumed an Akido opening.

"Ah this is more like it!" Madoka cried. Mao flicked her hand and cast her blade away. It found a groove amongst the lighted panels and stuck itself there. The cat-like Angel then drew her arms back like a swan and torso-twisted. It was the preparatory stance of Madoka's chosen fighting style: the _Shenlong Shibazhang_ (3), from which her _Uryuunosen_ was derived from.

Eugenie smirked. "Well now. 3 seconds!"

Umi went for a rocket powered drive towards her adversary.

Hikaru somersaulted backwards a few times, then flashed out just as the projectile came through, reappearing in front of Alice to try for a roundhouse kick. Arisu flinched off and tumbled out of the way. Like before, the discs disappeared again.

_They are conjured from the Angel. They certainly seem to require focus to maintain… Like when I abandon focusing on the _Seirei no Hikari_, it'll disappear… Wait!_

Misaki took another look at Alice's hands. She could see that there was a faint glow hanging from her small hands.

_Maybe I've been using the wrong approach in this case._ Misaki thought as Hikaru dashed out. _Instead of trying to break the technique…_

Eugenie blinked. Suddenly it was clear; all she needed was to move there and do that…

Alice flicked out her offensive cutlery. _It's too bad Misaki. It ends…_

Mao drew her hand back. _…now._

All four Angels lashed out their fists as they met in the middle of the Layer violently. A pregnant pause hushed the spectating crowd, as well as the warriors on the battlefield. Then…

Arisu realized that Hikaru had absorbed both discs in a rapidly growing ball of light.

Eugenie realized the Mao was not where she had predicted. In fact, the Angel was not even _in front_ of her!

Twin explosions ripped throughout the Layer, kicking up dust and static, the barriers crackling and buzzing under the barrage of turbulent shockwaves bouncing about the small space. The dense fog clung to the battle for a while more, then slowly faded away. Hikaru stood at the epicenter, watching on non-chalantly. Mao was still on her feet. Alice, battered with fabric torn at places, was lying on her side a way off from the point of contact after being blasted by Hikaru's trademark right in the face. Same was for Umi, her reactor having gone nova from the death blow from behind, and because she was on her back, her shocked expression was frozen in "rigor mortis" for all to see.

"How- How was that possible?" Eugenie stammered, feeling like her seat had just been yanked out from under her.

"You're very organized, such that everything goes like clockwork, even with the timing of your actions against your opponents'. But because you follow a set formula, you become very predictable." Madoka said. "You're used to the free-for-all environment of the Tanglevale Brawl, where no one can really stare at you long enough to gather what your tactics are..."

"But I saw it clearly! I replied every action tit for that and so three seconds later Mao would've been right where I struck out at..."

"The future is not set in stone, Eugenie-san..."

Arisu was just as dumbstruck, but she took it a lot worse, grabbing Alice and her Angel Card and stormed off without a word. The machine flashed the words: **_"Deus Withdrawal. Game Over."_**

"Arisu-chan..." Misaki began sadly. Hikaru had a hand out as though she was calling to Alice to come back.

"Let her be, Misaki-chan." Madoka reassured. "She just needs some time to think it through."

The Red Comet could only nod mutely.

"You know what they say," Eugenie shrugged, stood up and extended her hand. "Good game."

Madoka shook it. "Good game indeed. Keep improving alright? I hope to fight you again, with your everything."

Eugenie grinned. "Deal!"

------

As the pair broke up the handshake, the Angelic Layer NErve Center and BAttle Control (ALNECBAC, sometimes just NEC or BAC, but affectionately referred to as Nerv by some of its employees) was watching. Or rather, the Layer's Head of Mechanics (Coincidentally Piffle's resident jellyfish pervert) Dr Mihara Ichiro was watching, alongside with Technical Assistant (AKA Mr Coffee-with-Torture) Masaharu Ogata. They were situated on the highest cream-colored computer pedestal that was flanked by two other shorter ones, each staffed with a small technician and observer team. The shorter towers rose about three metres off the ground, but the central supercomputer casing was three times that, thus bearing some resemblance to the battle control that gave the NEC its pet name. And all around the front of the superstructure was the diamond-edge of holographic imaging technology, the CASsalini ProjEctoR (CASPER). Floating at its core were a digital mess of vid screens, Deus-Angel synchronization graphs, freeze frames of various angles, and the odd Angel blueprint or two. A rerun of the recording done of the battle involving 3 of the brightest Deus-Angel (DA) pairs played on without sound at the slice of air closest to the central block. As usual, Ichiro had his fingers in an 'L' to his chin in thought; And as usual, Ogata was flapping about, after being victimized by the HoM again. This time he was cursed with wasabi earthworms down the pants, and the other operators were having a good laugh over it.

"Focusing the _Seirei no Hikari _at half-strength in Hikaru's palms seconds ahead then squeezing all your will into it at the last moment, even though the attack is weaker than a fully charged one, its instantaneity makes it almost totally impossible to defend against..." Mihara mused and laughed eeriely. "You built on your opponent's idea and used it against her to a full effect! Misaki, Misaki... You really are just like your mother, never failing to surprise me... What's this?"

His eye caught some partially obscured graphs in the background, and with a flick of his hand, brought it up to the front. They were graphs recording Deus and Angel processor page volume for the duration of the entire fight. They were normal at first sight, a consistant signal displacement between the Deus processor emitting a signal and the Angel processor receiving it. But at closer inspection, there were points on the Angel processor graphs, especially Hikaru's and Umi's, where there had been no signal from the Deus processor but there was a spike in processor activity at the Angel's side.

"Hitsugaya..." Mihara let go of his chin. "Looks like what you predicted is starting to happen..."

------

Madoka found her sister outside in the garden moping on a bench by a familiar lamp post.

"Remember this place, Arisu?" Madoka sighed as she placed her hand against the tall fixture. "This was where we sat after being defeated by Misaki-san the first time around."

Arisu would have none of it. "I'm better trained than her, I've got more experience than her, how could I lose..."

Madoka shook her head and sat down beside her sister. "From the way you built Alice, I could tell that she was designed solely to combat Misaki and Hikaru's adaptiveness. And its not just that; your attitude and direction towards the Layer had been all about revenge, just like me four years ago."

Arisu said nothing.

"And so that was the first problem to begin with. You were fighting embittered, and Angels can feel that too. And when they do so, they lose the ability to dance happily, and quickly get outpaced."

Madoka placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Also, Misaki never doubts Hikaru for one moment. She believes that no matter how hopeless it seems, Hikaru would make it through, which is why she can put so much on the line and still come back with the big catch. Can you sincerely say that you believe that much of Alice?"

She still got no reply, and so the older Fujisaki gave up and leaned back.

"What beautiful weather we have today..."

Arisu remained mum. For in her mind, Misaki's words kept echoing, "I believe we can!"

_"Do I really wholly believe in Alice...?"_

------

Mihara and Masaharu were not alone in watching the tag team battle closely. Another pair in green Eriol Academy High School sector uniform were watching from the floor above the cashier point where the Magic Knights picked to cash out their rental Layer from.

"She hasn't changed much since before the incident, hasn't she?" The green-haired male said, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the two while the duel was on. "I thought she'd be laid low by the news."

"Well according to my source, she was," the girl with a long pink mane held in place by a yellow star-shaped clip by his side replied. She was leaning forward, with her chin to her clasped hands, propped on elbows resting on the glass banister that separated customers from a good six meter tumble. "But Misaki's a strong girl. She's not the kind to wallow in sad things."

"Your source again," he huffed and turned to his companion. "Meguri, she was once the enemy. Especially since she agreed to do so much for you, I can't help but find that kind of suspicious, possibly even dangerous."

"Lighten up, Daisuke. You should also know that one of her pet phrases is that, 'a soldier can only believe in The Mission.'" She reminded, coming slowly to a stand and stretched. The Knights below had settled their payments and turned to leave. Eugenie walked slower than the rest, and quickly fell behind. She looked up; Meguri gave a light nod of acknowledgement; and the young Kluize smirked and replied likewise. "I have absolute faith in her to see this –no whatever's left of this-- through."

"A soldier..." The boy repeated in thought as he watched Eugenie run to catch up with her two friends.

"What has the Layer become?"

**--- ARE YOU PREPARED? ---**

(1) Literally "Dragon Eyes".

(2) She's kinda prophetic no? Yup I'm refering to the manga here, where Arisu (somehow) ends up in the finals of the nationals and fights Misaki for revenge. She loses, but learns something important about Angelic Layer. For those manga fans, you'd also realize that Alice fights just like, well, Arisu the Angel (Which I decided to use Alice to avoid confusion), except for that little trick I showed you.

(3) Literally "18 Fists of the Divine Dragon". Frequently appearing in several Chinese martial arts lore as one of the most powerful skill sets available. The "anti-Thunder" technique _Uryuunosen_ does look rather similar to the 11th punch listed in that set of techniques.

Author's Note

Yay! Another chap of MAR is up! It's still the first week of semester and so I vowed "I must get this chap up!" and slogged. And slogged and slogged and slogged. And poof! It appeared! I hope its to your tastes... WHAT AM I SAYING! Jeez this is starting to get to me. As you can see, even seemingly air-headed Eugenie isn't all what she seem to be. It'll get more fun as we go along, so stay tuned. As usual I invite you to press that purple button in the corner, to let me know that I'm still on track, and that you still love MAR. Ja! See you next Round!

**Preview Next Episode**

**E**ugenie: HELLO MY DEAR DEAR FANS! Kha the Cleric won't be doing the Previews from here on cos we're handling it!

(**M**isaki and **N**anoka sweatdrop. Pounding can be heard from the cupboard behind them.)

E: Next week, Misaki cooks up a storm!  
M: I hope its to your tastes...  
E: Like to see what grown up Misaki's room is like? Is it full of photos of Ooooh...  
M: NAA!  
E: Of course we'll also show YOU how to make you own Angel armors. And test it out too! I mean, you really don't want to end up like Misaki the following day.  
M: Na?  
E: Up next! On _Mobile Angel Reiya_...

**Round 05: Remember Pearl Harbour! Misaki's Otaku Encounter**

All: Angels, FALL IN!


End file.
